The Darkness Within
by xXLadyRachelXx
Summary: Dangerous. That's the only word Finn Balor can describe living the life of a demon hunter with. Even though he is half demon himself, he chooses to fight for humanity's safety, which is why he is hated by many. He has fought many demons over the years, but he has never expected to ever encounter an evil that could force him to use all the darkness inside him in order to stop it...
1. The Demonic Sisters

**Hello my friends! Before you start reading, I'd like to point out that this story is in fact a spin-off from one of my earlier fanfics, the 'Into The Darkness' series. It's not entirely necessary to read these fanfics first, but it may help you to understand some things in this story. Also, I'd like to give a shout out to my dear friend Baekho0123, she's been a great help to me while I tried to figure out the plot for the story. I couldn't have done this without her help.** **Thanks girl, you are awesome~!**

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 **Chapter 1**

 **The Demonic Sisters**

A strong gust of wind caused the rain to hit the windows of the stores in the empty street, accompanied by a rather unpleasant kind of cold. With this kind of weather, you'd almost forget that it was actually summer, but right now it kind of felt like autumn had already arrived. Finn Bálor let out a slightly annoyed, shivering groan and pulled the zipper of his black, leather jacket up, fully closing his jacket. After that, he took a few seconds to fix his jacket's collar, making sure the cold and rain wouldn't get to his neck.

'Ugh... damn it...' he mumbled, his Irish accent clear as day.

You had to be a fool with nothing better to do if you went outside in the night in the middle of the rain. If you didn't have any real reason to go out with this weather, the best thing for any person to do was of course to stay inside, relax on the couch with a hot cup of tea and perhaps enjoy some show on TV... but Finn had never thought of that whenever he went out at night. No, there was no time for staying inside. Because when night fell, he had to go to work. And that kind of work was everything but normal.

Finn Bálor was a demon hunter.

If you would ask a person who was skeptical about the existence of demons or any other kind of supernatural being for that matter, they would naturally deny such a ridiculous thought like that. Humans are the only real thing, there would be no way in hell our world could be inhabited by paranormal creatures. They were merely fiction, characters in old myths and horror stories. Finn couldn't disagree more with people like that. For many years, he had encountered many demons, some of them benevolent, but most of them malicious. And it were the demons who wished to do harm to humanity that Finn had to eliminate. He had studied demons, knew about their different kinds of powers, the kinds of demons that there were out there; and oh yes, there were many demons who dared to blend in with the humans, waiting for their right moment to strike. It was Finn's task, his life goal, to protect humanity against supernatural evil. If people were so grateful for him saving their lives, they would often offer money, which Finn would rarely accept. Money was the last thing on his mind while protecting humanity.

The demon hunter had worked on many cases during his career and tonight there weren't any reasons to stay inside for tonight; another case was waiting to be solved.

During the past couple of months, a couple of men had gone missing in this city. Sure, every now and then people are unfortunate enough to go missing, but the number of men disappearing without a single trace in such a short time was enough to catch Finn's attention. There was something about this case that didn't quite feel... normal. With a bit of help from a close friend of him who worked at the police in this city, Finn was able to find out that all of the missing men were last seen in a strip club that had been recently opened in the center of the city. It was that same friend who shared that same thought the demon hunter; this case was a bit too strange. Of course the police had been searching around for a clue that could lead them to the missing men at the strip club, but nothing had been ever found, as if they had simply disappeared into thin air once they would set foot into that damn club. And that's when Finn came in. After a bit of investigating, he found out who the owners of the club really were. Tonight was the night he was finally going to confront them.

The demon hunter saw a red glow lightening up the wet street and sidewalk in the distance. That glow was coming from a huge neon light attached to a building that was established right on a corner, which would most likely lead to an alley. Music could be faintly heard; there was no doubt that it was coming from inside the building.

'The Bella Club...' Finn mumbled when he read the text the red neon light spelled out as soon as he got closer. 'What do ya have to hide for me?'

Finn was convinced that the answers to this strange case were hidden right here, inside this strip club. He was going to get them, one way or another. The demon hunter turned around the corner, assuming that the entrance to the club was there. And he was right about that; the entrance was located in the alley, where he was greeted with the smell of garbage and the sound of rain dripping down the iron frames of the ladders that lead to the other buildings' fire escapes and the downspouts. Just as Finn entered the alley, he saw a skinny stray cat scavenging through some torn open garbage bags in an attempt to find a scrap of food. As soon as the hungry animal spotted him, it ceased its search and quickly took off, disappearing into the darkness of the alley. The front door of the strip club was made of metal and had a small hatch. Finn knocked on it three times, hoping the bouncer could hear him despite the loud music. It didn't last long before the hatch was opened, exposing a pair of eyes glaring right at him.

'You again?' the deep voice of a man asked behind the door. 'What do you want?'

'I'm here for business.' Finn answered. 'Could ya let me in?'

For a little moment, the bouncer didn't say anything, as if he was considering whether he should let this man, who had been visiting the strip club a few times without paying any money to the girls in there, enter the building. Then the hatch suddenly closed and few clicks could be heard. The door opened with a loud creak, but the bouncer who was now standing in the doorway refused to stop glaring at Finn.

'Fine. Get in.'

As soon as Finn entered the strip club, he was greeted with loud techno music, the smell of cheap beer and the shattered dreams of all the strippers who worked at Club Bella. Spotlights were aimed at the girls on the various stages, who were clad in the most revealing outfits and dancing around the poles as erotically as they could, hoping they would be able to collect as much money as possible by the end of the night. The interior of Club Bella consisted mostly of different shades of pink and red, but it didn't soothe the humiliating feelings some of those strippers must've felt. Numerous men were gathered around the stages, cheering the girls on and throwing dollar bills at them. A wolf whistle could occasionally be heard. Finn couldn't help but hope for these girls that they all could find a better job in the future. But now there wasn't any time to think about that; he had some 'business' to discuss with the owners. He headed straight to the bar, where some of the men visiting the strip club decided to sit down to have a drink before continuing to gawk at all the flesh. The demon hunter sat down at the bar and immediately noticed the bartender, a man in his early fifties, filling up a glass with beer.

'Hey, you over there.' Finn said, his voice loud enough to be heard over the music. The bartender heard him and put down the glass of beer.

'Good evening, pal. What do you want to drink?'

Finn shook his head. 'No drink for me, thanks. I need to talk to the owners of the club. It's for business.'

'Business, you say?' the bartender asked, slightly frowning. 'Alright... hold on a moment.' He fetched a walky talky from the pocket of his beer-stained jeans, pressed a button and held it close to his ear. So far it surprised Finn how easy the security from this club could be fooled; were they perhaps unaware of the owners' true identities?

'Hey, Ms. Nikki?' the bartender said, covering his ear with his hand. 'I've got some guy over here who says he has business with you and your sister? Is it okay if I let him in?' He listened to what was said on the other side of the walky talky and briefly nodded. 'Okay then. I got that.' The bartender put away his walky talky and looked at Finn. 'Their office is in the back of the club.' he said, pointing to his right. 'The door is open.'

'Thanks.'

Finn got up from his seat and walked to the back. This was it, this was the moment. There was no way in hell the owners could deny the involvement in the case of the missing men, he could sense it if they were lying; it was a special kind of talent for most people.

The door was indeed open, like the bartender told him. As soon as Finn opened the door, he somehow expected an ambush, the final part of making him believe that the security was so easy to trick... but it didn't happen. But ambush or not, it didn't mean that Finn should let his guards down. The lifestyle of a demon hunter was not only dangerous... but also unpredictable.

The interior of the backroom looked luxurious, nearly calming even. The walls were decorated with a dark red wallpaper with elegant designs, the carpet was dark grey. A large, C-shaped aquarium was placed behind the large black leather sofa, where colorful, tropical fishes swam around in the clear water. A wooden desk was put way in the back of the room with piles of paperwork on it. A gorgeous-looking young woman with long brown hair and red lips, who was sitting behind the desk, notices Finn entering the backroom and got up. But it was not only her who noticed him; the same went for her twin sister, who had been lazily lounging on the sofa.

'Well, I'll be damned...' the woman said with a smirk. 'Look at here, Brie. If it isn't Finn Bálor, the Bastard Demon.'

It was a nickname that Finn had heard many times, but there was no way he could ever get rid of it... that was because it was the truth. It was written all over his aura, for every demon to see.

Finn Bálor was not entirely human; and he was hated by many for that.

'What do you want here?' Brie asked, getting up from the sofa. 'Don't you have better things to do? Or are you tired of betraying your own kind?'

'We need to talk, Nikki and Brie.' Finn said, ignoring the insult. 'And I'm pretty sure ya know what it's about.'

The two sisters briefly glanced at each other and didn't say anything, as if they considering to talk to him. Then they both glanced back at the demon hunter, with a rather arrogant smirk on their faces. 'Okay then... we will talk.' Nikki said. 'But close the door, will you? Nobody likes eavesdroppers, you know...'

Finn nodded and closed the door behind him with the soft click, immediately slightly muting the music back in the club. As soon as the door was closed, Nikki got up and walked towards the demon hunter, the smirk not ever leaving her face. Brie got up from the sofa and joined her twin sister.

'Well then, let's get started.' Nikki said. 'I hope you're not going to waste our time with this.'

'Oh, ya don't have to worry about that.' Finn answered. 'I am going to assume that this is going to interest ya two a lot.'

'Really?' Brie asked. 'Tell us.'

'I'm pretty sure you have heard the news of all those men who have gone missing lately. Most of them were married, even had children... but the most interesting part is... before they all vanished, they were last seen in this strip club. And I know for a fact that the two owners of this club are in fact demons...' Finn glared at the twins. 'So tell me, ya two... what have you done to them?'

Amused chuckled escaped past the lips of the twins. 'Come on now, Finn.' Nikki said. 'Do you honestly think we have something to do with this? I'm sorry to tell you this, but you are wrong. All wrong. You don't know what really happened. Those men could've finally realized that their lives were one big failure when they were here and decided to take off, you don't know what could've-'

'Bullshite!' Finn hissed, interrupting the female demon. The smirks almost immediately disappeared from the demonic sisters' faces, realizing that he had seen right through the lie. 'Ye're lyin', Nikki. Don't try to deny it. I can see it in your aura that ye're lyin', there's no way you can lie yourself or your sister out of this. Now listen to me and listen to me good... I'm giving ya a chance here. Ya two better stop with what ye're doin' and get the hell out of this city while you can. Hell, ya can even go back to the Demon Realm if ya want to, but if ya dare to make any more victims, I'll be comin' back for ya... and I won't give ya a warning next time. Got it?'

Nikki and Brie stared at Finn, completely speechless. The demon hunter turned around and headed back to the door, assuming that his warning would get through the twins' heads. There were only rare chances where he would give demons a chance to stop with their practices and turn their lives around, even offering them the chance to go back to their home world, the Demon Realm. Hopefully the sisters would be wise enough to makes that decision.

But before the demon hunter could touch the doorknob, a huge weight could be felt charging into his back and pinning him down to the ground with a painful thud. Before Finn could fight back, he was turned around on his back and once again held down by two pairs of arms. Big grins were displayed on the twins' faces, along with a sinister look in their eyes; Finn quickly realized that being given a chance to stop meant nothing to them.

'Do you really think we can let you leave, you stupid freak?' Brie said. 'We are not idiots, you know!'

'Yes, we have consumed the life forces of those men when we lured them into our office, but don't forget that we're just like those stupid humans you love so much, Finn.' Nikki said. 'We are just trying to come around. But unfortunately for you, you already know too much. And that's why me and my dear sister think it's better to get rid of you. But don't worry, if you don't struggle too much, your death is going to be quick and painless... and I think we're also doing all the other demons out there a huge favor by killing you!'

No... they were wrong... he was not going to be the one who was going to die tonight.

These dark powers had been hiding inside Finn's body for as long as he could remember; this was the right time to put them to good use. He allowed all the energy he had to flow to his arms, rapidly multiplying his strength. It was crashing through his veins, he could clearly feel it. He knew that his skin was coloring pitch black and his veins blood red as he was controlling his powers. With a loud roar, Finn broke free and shoved Nikki and Bella off of him with an incredible superhuman strength, sending the twins flying through the room and crashing into the aquarium. Glass shattered into many tiny pieces as the water flowed out, taking the unfortunate fishes along with it. Nikki and Brie landed on the ground, the water soaking their clothes.

'Why you, you...' Brie growled furiously. 'You... fucking freak!'

Letting out an infuriated scream, Brie charged right at the demon hunter, red energy crackling around her fists. But unfortunately she wasn't fast enough to reach him before he could pull out his pistol, loaded with bullets crafted from rock salt. Finn aimed his pistol right at Brie and fired, launching a bullet right to her head. Bullets made from rock salt would only weaken a demon if it was fired somewhere else on another spot on the body... but no demon has ever survived a bullet to the head. The bullet pierced right through Brie's skull, instantly killing her. She dropped to the ground; it lasted less than two seconds before a small blood of blood formed around her head.

'No!' Nikki screamed in horror. 'Brie!' With her eyes practically radiating with hatred, she glared at Finn. 'She was my sister! You'll pay for this! I'll kill you! I'm going to fucking kill you!'

Just like her now-deceased sister did, Nikki charged at Finn, ready to rip his throat out as soon as she got him. But Finn wasn't going to make it that easy to her. With his hand now transformed into a black claw with razor sharp fingernails, he charged right at Nikki.

He was not going to be the one dying tonight.

Finn rammed his entire arm through Nikki's chest, his claw clenched around her heart. The female demon widened her eyes in shock as blood spurted out of her mouth. Her broken ribcage made a sickening crunching noise as the demon hunter pulled his arm back out, still holding Nikki's heart before dropping it on the floor. The female demon emitted a soft, shivering breath before collapsing onto the floor, joining her sister.

It now was completely quiet in the backroom, if you would ignore the muffled techno music outside. A shiver ran over Finn's spine as he could feel his inhuman powers flowing away from the veins in his arms, returning to the source that was settled near his heart.

Time to get out of this damn mess.

Walking through the club with a bloody arm would catch anybody's attention for sure. Finn suddenly spotted a small window behind the desk, it looked like it was just big enough for him to crawl through. Dearly hoping that the gunshot hadn't alarmed anyone outside, Finn opened the window and managed to squeeze himself through it, smearing blood on the frame as he did so. Raindrops immediately fell on his head and jacket when he got outside. The demon hunter got up on his feet and let out a sigh.

Looks like it was safe to assume what really happened to those men... it was a damn shame that he couldn't find out where the bodies were.

As Finn entered the dark alley and walked away from the strip club, he suddenly realized that he promised his friend who worked at the police that he would try to keep the demonic sisters alive.

'Damn it... sorry, Dolph.' he mumbled, leaving the Bella Club behind him.


	2. Safe Haven

**Chapter 2**

 **Safe Haven**

Luckily it had stopped raining while Finn maneuvered his way through the narrow alleyways, avoiding entering the streets at all costs; the chance that someone would just happen to exit a bar or a club at that moment and spot him walking on the sidewalk with his right arm completely covered in blood was just too big. No, he couldn't risk it. Finn had to stay hidden in the dark of the night if he didn't want to raise any suspicion.

The rain had stopped, but the demon hunter was a little bit bummed out that the rain wasn't enough to wash off the blood from his arm. There wasn't a hint of the dark energy that had been pulsing through his arm's veins earlier left, which caused the claw to be transformed back into a normal human hand. The transformation would always be painful, but Finn was used to that by now. Hell, he was forced to use his powers so many times that the pain didn't even make him flinch.

However, he could never get used to the smell of blood. It had this very distinctive smell, it somehow reminded him of the smell of old iron. Finn didn't know exactly why, but the smell made a slightly unpleasant shiver run up his spine. But then again, this was part of the job; there were only rare times where blood wouldn't flow. By this time, the blood had already dried up, staining his skin and leather jacket. It was a rather unpleasant feeling, it felt sticky. Washing it off was one of the main two priorities that was on the demon hunter's mind right now, next to getting back to his place.

The Pentagram shouldn't be far away now, it was just a couple of blocks away. Finn knew that by heart, he had been in these alleys so many times already. It was there in that shop where he would be safe. Thankfully no demon, or any other demon hunter for that matter, knew he was staying there since he had moved from Ireland to the United States; if the true nature of his landlady, the woman who owned the gothic shop, would ever be discovered... then the consequences for her would be beyond horrible. The Pentagram was the only place where Finn would be safe, he wanted to keep his landlady safe, that's why he never told anybody about where he lived. The demon hunter had already lost his first home while he was staying in this city once; a couple of demons who were thirsting for his demise had found out in which apartment complex he lived and set it on fire while he was asleep. Luckily the heat of the flames were enough to wake him up. Finn was convinced that if he had remained asleep for a little while longer, it would've been the end for him. Yes, he was able to escape just in time, but he had lost everything. His home had literally gone up in flames, which was why his stay at The Pentagram was a very welcome one.

Finn headed towards the end of the alley and stepped out. Turning his head to the right, he let out a soft sigh. The Pentagram was right across the street, just a few more meters and his job would be done for tonight. The demon hunter couldn't help at that moment to wonder if the bodies of the demonic twins had already been found. When he thought about it, he shook his head. It was very likely that they wouldn't be found this night, mainly because the loud music back in the strip club muffled the gunshot and the yelling; the chance that they would be found only after the club would close was pretty big. However, if luck would be on his side, the bodies of the twins would disintegrate into ashes, which would usually happen to a demon's body after it would die.

Finn decided not to think about it too much anymore for now; it was over, the men who visited their club wouldn't be doomed to go missing. The residents of this city would be safe... for now, that was.

Exiting the alley, the demon hunter briefly looked around, wanting to make absolutely sure there was nobody on the street. The rain that had been left behind on the street and sidewalk gleamed in the faint light of the lampposts, almost reminding him of shining stars in the night sky. Looking around, Finn saw that thankfully nobody was there. He quickly crossed the street, heading straight to The Pentagram. It was completely quiet in this part of the city, the only sound that could be heard was the faint sound of Finn's footsteps. As he got closer to the gothic shop, Finn saw that his landlady had already closed it, judging by the fact that all the lights inside the shop were off. Numerous gothic merchandise were displayed at the window, from dresses with fishnet sleeves, long black leather clothes and t-shirt with mysterious designs to spiked bracelets, rings and small jars of bright colored hair dye. Finn knocked on the door, three times. It lasted a little while before he could hear footsteps on the other side of the door.

'Who is there?' a female voice with a British accent asked.

'Paige, it's me, Finn.' the demon hunter replied. 'The job is done. Can ya let me in?'

The familiar sound of a lock being unlocked was heard and Paige, his landlady and the female demon who owned The Pentagram, opened the door. The pale demon with the long raven black hair looked like she was about to get ready to go to sleep, judging from the calf-length, black, satin nightgown she was wearing. As soon as Paige's eye fell on the dried-up blood on Finn's arm, she slightly widened her eyes in mild shock.

'Oh damn it, what the hell happened now?' she asked; the demon hunter could swear he heard a hint of annoyance in her voice.

'Things got out of hand at that strip club.' Finn mumbled. 'I have been attacked... and I had to fight back. I had no choice.'

'Attacked? By who, the twins?'

'Look, can you let me in first? I'll explain it all inside.'

'Fine. Come on, get inside. But don't try to get any blood on the stairs, okay?'

Finn gave his landlady a quick nod before she stepped aside, allowing him to enter the shop. Before she closed the door, the female demon quickly glanced outside, hoping that nobody had seen them together, or the blood on her roommate's arm, for that matter. After she was sure that nobody was there, Paige closed the door, locking it.

'Alright, now would you mind explaining me what the bloody hell happened at that strip club?' the female demon asked as soon as the two were headed upstairs to the apartment. Finn always thought the apartment had something soothing, it still had some gothic hints to it like the row of small statues of dragons and fairies on the windowsill, the white carpet with a large black pentagram print near the TV and the silver chandelier hanging above the dinner table, but it was somehow calming nonetheless. Finn decided not to stand to close near the carpet; Paige would absolutely fucking lose it if he got blood on that carpet.

'It was them, Paige.' Finn calmly replied. 'The twins were behind all of it. One of them had even confessed that to me when they tried to kill me.'

'Hmm, no surprise, to be honest. I was already pretty sure that it was them. Succubi feel right at home at spots where horny men flock to, those poor bastards didn't know what was coming to them. But why did they try to kill you? Did they found out why you were there?'

'Aye. I confronted them with what I knew. At first they denied it, but I could clearly see in their auras that they were lyin'. I gave them a chance to stop and go back to the Demon Realm. That's when they attacked and... I guess you can clearly see what happened next.' The demon hunter pointed at his bloody arm to make his point clear.

'You know that Dolph isn't going to be happy about this, right?' Paige was there when the blonde detective had visited Finn in the apartment one day with new information about the case of the missing men. Finn had promised Dolph to try to keep the succubus twins alive so that there would a possibility of an arrest... now it looked like this case was doomed to go cold.

'Aye, I know that. It really is a damn shame...'

'Are you sure that nobody saw you with that bloody arm? Are you absolutely sure, Finn?'

'Paige, calm down. I escaped through the window, nobody had heard a thing. I have made sure that there was nobody around, I stuck with the darkness and only went through the alleyways. I have avoided all the streets. Trust me, there weren't any witnesses.'

'Even when you entered my store?'

'Aye.'

The female demon loudly sighed and shook her head. 'You really have to be more careful, Finn. Because goddamn it, I have told you so many times already. If any demon in this city ever finds out that I'm offering shelter to a demon hunter, they will fucking murder me, or even worse. Thinking about it makes me sick to my bloody stomach. If we're seen together, I'm done for, you understand? I don't want any shit from the other demons, we have to keep this a secret!'

'I know that, Paige. Believe me when I say that I am as careful as possible. It just got out of hand this time, but I've been looking over my shoulder the whole time on the way back. There was nobody. No human, no demon. I'm gonna make sure ya will stay out of it and be safe.'

Paige ran her fingers through her long black hair and stared at the ground, as if she was doubting about what the demon hunter just said. 'I... I hope you are right.'

'I would never forgive myself if somethin' happened to ya because of me, Paige. Trust me.'

From the bottom of her heart, the female demon dearly hoped that the demon hunter could keep to his word. Sure, she did care about Finn, but... giving shelter to a demon hunter was beyond dangerous for a demon. Then she glanced at the clock on the wall.

'Look, it's getting late, it's almost one o'clock. You should probably go to bed. I'll take care of your jacket in the morning.'

'Ye're right. Ya should get some sleep too.'

Inside the bathroom that was just big enough for a sink, toilet and shower, Finn took off his jacket and dropped it onto the floor next to the shower; he hoped the blood wouldn't ruin the leather. When he washed his arm in the sink, he watched as the water mixed with the blood and disappeared into the drain. Thankfully it also took away that smell, replacing it with the smell of the soap he used to scrub it off. After he dried off his cleaned arm, Finn exited the bathroom and went into his bedroom. There was only a bed with blue sheets, a closet and a desk with a colorful Lego structure of a pirate ship on it. Creating things with Lego had always soothed Finn, he would always enjoy doing it. The demon hunter stripped himself of his clothes, put on his pajama pants, turned off the light and got into his bed. Only now he felt how tired he actually was.

Closing his eyes, Finn planned on telling Dolph what happened in Club Bella; maybe that would make him less pissed off.


	3. Good Morning To You Too

**Chapter 3**

 **Good Morning To You Too**

No matter where Finn looked, there was only pitch-black darkness; it was so dark, he literally couldn't see his own hands. He tried to move his legs in an attempt to move from his spot and find a source of light that could lead him out of here, but it was like his feet had fused with the surface he was standing on. He tried to lift his feet with all the strength he had, even consider to use a part of the dark powers that had been brewing in his body for as long as he could remember, but he was unable to move even an inch. The demon hunter was blinded and stuck in one place; he was almost on the verge of losing his cool, it almost felt like this was real.

No sounds were heard during the time Finn had found himself stuck in the darkness, but now there were two voices who started slowly breaking the silence, accompanied by a very faint heartbeat. Whose heartbeat was that? Finn couldn't help but wonder that. The voices became louder and it was quickly revealed that they had Irish accents.

'Dear God in Heaven, how is she still alive?' one of the voices asked.

'It's a miracle that the police have even found her in the first place. Just a few more days and she would've starved to death. The doctors said she must've been raped and tortured in that abandoned house for nearly ten months...'

'Ten months?! Good God, that sick fuck... no wonder she has gone insane.'

Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream of a woman drove the two other voices away; Finn could clearly sense that the woman was in agonizing pain.

'Kill it! Please, I'm beggin' ya, for the love of God! Kill that thing! Ya have to kill it now!'

A faint white light started to emerge and became brighter and bigger, causing the woman to scream even louder, hurting Finn's ears. Then the all too familiar smell of blood filled the demon hunter's nose; he could swear he even heard it splattering onto a floor.

'The baby is coming out! She's losin' too much blood! She's bleedin' to death, doctor!' a hysterical male voice shouted.

The bright light eventually swallowed up the darkness, forcing Finn to close his eyes to protect them. When he opened his eyes again, he saw something entirely briefly. The faint heartbeat and the voices were gone. It was like he was looking through the eyes of a person. Judging by his surroundings, it looked like he was in some sort of nursery. Numerous toys were scattered around the floor and the bookshelves were stacked with picture books. Then Finn suddenly heard two new voices, voices that belonged to women, whispering behind him.

'That couple canceled the adoption?'

'Aye, apparently they said that lad was creeping them out too much.'

'Well, I won't blame them. He's not like the other children... he's so quiet, so secluded... he doesn't want to interact with the other children, let alone adults. Honestly, I think he's a freak. It's like that lad is not even a human! I mean, he had grown a full set of teeth when he was just two weeks old, for God's sake!'

'I couldn't agree more with that... he just creeps me out.'

A bright light suddenly appeared again, only it now appeared as a brief flash, blinding Finn once more. Opening his eyes once more, he saw that he was now sitting at a table, working on what appeared to be a spaceship made of Lego; just a few more blocks and it would be finished. Suddenly, rapid footsteps could be heard and a hand grabbed the spaceship, throwing it against a wall, shattering it.

'Grab that freak!' the voice of a boy shouted.

A couple of hands grabbed his clothes and pulled him away from the table, pushing him into a corner. The hands formed into fists and started punching him mercilessly. Laughter could be heard from the three young assailants; they were all boys who couldn't be older than twelve.

'What are ya gonna do, ya little twat?! Fight back then, if ya can!'

'Ye're such a freak, Finn! It's true what the caretakers said, ye're not a human! Nobody wants to adopt ya 'cause ye're a fuckin freak!'

'Freak! Freak!'

Finn saw the fists and the grinning faces of the bullies fading away in a thick mist of red, clouding his eyes. A deep, inhuman growl could be heard. Startled gasps followed, along with the sound of claws ripping through flesh. Once again, the smell of blood filled Finn's nose; the smell was so strong this time that it nearly made him dizzy. When the red mist disappeared, the bullies had disappeared along with it, making place for a much more pleasant sight. Finn saw a girl standing in front of him with the warmest, friendliest smile he had ever seen. She had long red hair, was wearing a green tank top and a pair of shorts and she was reaching out for him with her hand, as if she was about to give him a polite handshake. But then, in the blink of an eye, the girl had aged into an adult woman and there wasn't a single trace of friendliness found on her face; it had turned into a mask of hatred and heartbreak. Tears were running down her face as her eyes seemed to be burning with rage.

'Get out of my life!' she screamed at the top of her lungs.

With a loud gasp, Finn finally snapped awake.

A huge headache started to form in his head as he looked around him, quickly realizing that it was all just a bad dream, thank God. But it sure was one hell of a bad dream; the demon hunter could feel a sheet of sweat sticking on his forehead. A ray of sunshine gently illuminated his bedroom. The Lego pirate ship still remained on his desk, untouched and almost completed. Finn sat up and slightly leaned forward, supporting his head with his hands.

'Bloody hell...' he mumbled.

It looked like some things could never be forgotten... they would always come back to taunt him.

Glancing at the digital clock on his nightstand, Finn saw that it was past nine o'clock. Time to get up. The demon hunter swung his legs over the edge of his bed and stood up. Only now he noticed how much he reeked of sweat. What he needed at this moment was a splash of cold water to the face. He exited his bedroom and walked into the bathroom, which was right across from his bedroom; it was just a few steps away. Finn was pretty sure that Paige would also be awake by now, perhaps she had already started making his breakfast. He couldn't help but chuckle for a moment. Until the day she had allowed him to stay at The Pentagram, Paige had never cooked a meal before. Since there is no need for demons to eat the food humans eat in order to survive, that thought had never crossed her mind once. Now that she was living with a half-demon, it was time for her to finally get to cooking. After accidently burning numerous meals, Paige had proven herself to be a decent chef.

Standing in front of the sink, Finn took a little moment to stare at himself in the mirror; his reflection, a man in his early thirties with short brown hair and blue-grey eyes, stared back at him. He twisted the knob of the tap and cold water poured out. He formed a little 'bowl' with his hands and allowed the water to fill it. Splashing it onto his sweaty face felt so good, it was exactly what he needed.

When he looked up, Finn saw something in the mirror that would scare the living hell out of anybody. His reflection had transformed into a demonic version of himself. His skin had turned pitch-black, his veins clearly visible and red, pumping with dark energy. His mouth had grown huge and was filled with razor sharp teeth that reminded him of butcher knives. His eyes seemed to be blind, they were completely white. The creature in the mirror loudly roared at him as if he was enraged about something, but Finn wasn't fazed for a little bit. He knew exactly what this meant.

His demonic side wanted him to let him out.

'Shut up.' the demon hunter mumbled in annoyance, grabbed a towel and dried off his face. He walked back to his bedroom, where he put on his clothes. No, he wasn't going to give the demon inside him any attention. He could scream and roar all it wanted, he wasn't going to let him out sooner or later.

After he was done dressing up, Finn walked to the living room, where he was greeted with a rather unexpected surprise.

Detective Dolph Ziggler was sitting at the dinner table with Paige, who had apparently made him a fresh cup of coffee. Finn frowned in confusion. What the hell, he thought he was going to visit them at the end of the day! The blonde detective had clearly heard him, turning his head to face the demon hunter. And judging from the look of his face, Finn guessed that the secret was out.

'I guess Paige already told ya what happened last night.' he said.

Dolph briefly nodded. 'Yeah, she did.' he replied, obviously ticked off. 'Their bodies have been found, Finn. Damn it, I told you to keep them alive!'

'I really wanted to in the first place, Dolph, believe me. I had warned them, but then they attacked me. It was them or me.'

'And you couldn't let them live while fighting back?'

Finn shook his head as an answer.

Dolph groaned in frustration, softly hissing through his clenched teeth. 'Fantastic. Just fucking fantastic, Finn. Now there will be a chance this case will never be solved! Whenever I come to you with a case that may or may not have a paranormal background, doesn't mean you must kill the damn suspects! If you had let Brie and Nikki live, there might've been a trial against them and would've been justice for the families of those missing men! And who knows, we could've found them as well, whether they are dead or alive. Now it looks those families will never have the justice they deserve!'

'Dolph, I too want justice for the families of those men, but think about it for a moment... Nikki and Brie could've walked out of that court that very same day.' the demon hunter calmly replied.

'What do you mean?'

'Have ya forgotten? Demons don't have fingerprints. Those twins were succubi, they were no exception. Ya wouldn't have gotten any evidence against them anyway. Demons like them are better off dead, believe me on that.'

'Now you listen to me...'

'Alright, that's enough, both of you!' Paige suddenly said, most likely feeling to her bones that a heated argument would unfold if she wouldn't step in. 'Yes, Finn may have killed the suspects, but what's been done is done. Brie and Nikki may be dead, but that doesn't mean all is lost, those bodies could still be out there and be found by your men. Nobody will be arrested, but at least it will give some closure to the families. Does that sound better to you, Dolph?'

The blonde detective briefly stared at the female demon, then let out a tired sigh and slightly nodded. 'Yeah, I guess.' he mumbled.

'Good. Now that all's good, let's celebrate it with some coffee, what do you say?'

'Alright then. Just one more, then I'll head back to work.'

'Aye aye, captain!' Paige replied with a grin. She got up from her seat and walked to the countertop to prepare another cup of coffee for the detective. 'Say, how are Bayley and Sami doing?' she asked while filling the coffee maker with fresh water. 'And their baby? How... how was she called again?'

'Her name is Molly.' Dolph replied. 'They're doing fine, they're still the most loving couple I've ever met. And I'm pretty sure their daughter is going to be one happy kid when she grows up.'

'Ah... time sure does fly, huh? Man, it was a year ago and I still remember Sami entering my store like it was yesterday. I'm glad that all ended well for Bayley.'

'Me too. But hey, Paige... can I ask you something?'

'Sure, what is it?'

'Why do you let Finn stay at your place? I mean, no offense, but I think it's pretty damn strange for a demon to shelter a demon hunter...'

Paige turned around and looked at Finn. 'You wouldn't mind if I'd tell him, would you Finn?'

The demon hunter shook his head. 'Nah, it's fine.'

'Okay then. I think it was about... three months ago. Yeah, that has to be it. I was heading back home from the graveyard after putting some human souls to rest when I saw this bloke right here lying on the streets. Some demons had found him and beat him up pretty good, I'll tell you that. I couldn't let him just leave there, now could I? So I took him home and treated his wounds. That's when I noticed something strange about his aura. It was the typical aura you'd see around a demon, but his aura... it also had something human. From that moment on, I knew I was dealing with a half-demon. They are rare, but they do exist. While he was resting, I couldn't help but going through his stuff, I was so curious at that moment. His pistol was filled with bullets made from rock salt, that's when I knew he was a demon hunter. Yes, of course I wanted to kick him out at first, but then he told me he had nowhere else to go. His apartment was burned down by those demons who beat his arse. He said that he knew I wasn't a malevolent demon, because when I found out he was a demon hunter, I chose to kick him out instead of immediately killing him. He would only hunt down malevolent demons. He wouldn't hurt me, he promised that. That's why I decided to let him stay here, and so far things are pretty cool between us, eh Finn?'

The demon hunter smiled and nodded before Paige started to speak again.

'Now... you could say that Finn and I are on the same side. We both think that demons who want to hurt humans are better off dead. Demons like that will never change, it's in their nature. I may be a demon, but I don't want to be associated with those evil bastards. They have tainted the reputation of our kind enough. And even if you manage to put a demon behind bars, it will always find a way out with its own powers... or the powers of one its buddies. That's why I'm siding with Finn.'

'I see...' Dolph replied. He stared at the thin layer of coffee that still remained in his cup; he was pretty sure it would've gone cold by now.


	4. Lone Wolves Have The Sharpest Teeth

**Chapter 4**

 **Lone Wolves Have The Sharpest Teeth**

Before he had stepped through the portal in order to travel to the Mortal Realm, he had remembered the words of his fellow demons. They had considered him a fool for finally putting his plan into action. There was no way in hell he could ever do it, he would die an agonizing death if he would dare to, but he had flat-out ignored all those warnings. Those demons were nothing more but cowards in his eyes, to scared to take any risks in order to get what they wanted. And he knew exactly what he wanted; nothing was going to stop him, not now, not ever. If he would get hurt, then so be it, because it would all be worth it in the end.

He was going to be the most dominant demon in the history of the Demon Realm.

Baron Corbin had been driving on this road for hours now and he had barely seen any cars passing him by, but he was fine with that. He enjoyed riding on remote roads on his motorcycle, he always did, like a true lone wolf, even when he lived in the Demon Realm. Sure, there would often be demonic creatures like giant, venomous centipedes with razor sharp mandibles crawling onto the road and sometimes creatures that resembled big bats would swoop by, but it would feel good to him nonetheless. Here in the Mortal Realm there weren't any dangerous creatures to bother him (except for one deer that had suddenly appeared in front him one time, but that stupid animal managed to jump away in time before he could hit it), so that quite pleased Baron.

He had been driving for hours, but the demon hadn't felt anything that came close to tiredness. He knew that he still had a lot of miles to go, but that didn't bother him. It was his hunger that kept him going.

Yes, that's how he could describe that indescribable feeling in his chest that has been consuming him for so long now. There was no other way to describe it, it truly felt like he was hungry for something; it was the hunger for the desire for dominance and power.

Baron had that desire for as long as he could remember. He was known as a very dominant and violent demon in the Demon Realm, but he didn't feel any shame for it. No, he felt nothing more but pride for it. It made him feel powerful, that he stood above all other demons; they were weaklings to him, pathetic insects, waiting to be crushed right underneath his boot. There were some demons who had been foolish enough to underestimate him, thinking that his dominance was a mere fluke. But Baron was more than happy to prove them wrong. If his opponents would be lucky enough, he would leave them bleeding on the ground with a few broken bones, shattered teeth and a bleeding nose. But if Baron just happened to be in a bad mood... then his opponent wouldn't live to see the end of the day. The demon wished to uphold his reputation and he had succeeded in that so far.

A little while ago, there had been rumors going around in the Demon Realm and it didn't last long before they would eventually reach Baron. It appeared that a half-demon by the name of Finn Bálor had sided with the humans and fought for their safety as a demon hunter. At first Baron didn't believe much of it, since it was nearly impossible for a half-demon to even exist. Half-demons were extremely rare. Yes, it was possible for a human woman to be impregnated by a male demon, the same went for a female demon and a male human, but the chance that the pregnancy would result in a miscarriage or the bastard child to be stillborn was immense; the fact that the baby would still be alive when it was born was just a matter of extreme luck. But as more rumors of Finn Bálor went around, Baron become more interested. It didn't last long before he would hear about the powers this Bastard Demon had; some demons claimed that the strength of his powers came close to the legendary Undertaker. As much as half-demons are despised by the other demons for their mixed heritage, they couldn't help but be amazed that a half-demon could have such strength.

And that's when Baron decided to leave the Demon Realm to search for Finn Bálor... and he was well on his way.

Glancing down for a moment, Baron saw that he was about to run out of gasoline. Seeing this made him groan in annoyance.

'Fuck.' he growled.

The 'hunger' that had been eating him alive had made him impatient; even being forced to stop at a gas station to fill up his motorcycle with gasoline annoyed him, knowing that it was now going to last longer before he could find the Bastard Demon. But deep inside, the demon knew he had to be patient. If he would let his impatience get the better of him, he would rush things and possibly screw up. No, he had to be calm, calculated; only like that, he could perform the perfect attack. Finn would never know what was coming to him.

Baron briefly looked around him to see if there were any gas stations around here. If he would be unable to find one, he would be stranded next to the road and be absolutely fucked. Looking at his right, he saw a large green sign, saying that the nearest gas station was just two kilometers away. Baron was pretty sure he could make that.

And he did make it; it didn't last long before the demon spotted a small gas station on the right of the road. It looked cruddy, like the kind of gas station that wasn't a part of some big oil company, but it had gas nonetheless and that's what only mattered to Baron; he couldn't care less if that goddamn place would explode in a big ball of fire after he would leave, as long as he would get what he needed. He slowed down and drove towards the gas station. He stopped next to a petrol pump and shut off the engine of his motorcycle. The man sitting behind the cash register inside the gas station, who looked like the kind of man who had been drinking his life away for most of his years, had noticed Baron through the large window and gave him a brief nod, allowing him to fill up his motorcycle; he clearly had no idea that he was having a goddamn demon as a customer at this moment.

As Baron breathed in the fresh smell of gasoline while filling up his motorcycle, he stared at the bright blue sky. It was your typical summer day, not a single cloud in the sky and the temperature was just not hot enough to make you sweat like a pig. But Baron hadn't felt anything of the heat; he was only focused on claiming his well-deserved throne.

He could just feel it on the tip of his tongue.

The sound of a vehicle approaching him made him look up. Turning around, he saw an orange van heading towards the gas station, it was the kind of van hippies and rockers would want to live and drive in. Just some bastard pulling over to get some gasoline as well, Baron thought. He decided not to pay any more attention to it, even when he heard the van parking behind him, it wasn't worth his time. He had better things to think about... like figuring out whether he should outright attack Finn once he found him or perhaps stalk him for a while, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The sliding door of the van opened, allowing a strong whiff of beer mixed with marihuana to escape and fill up Baron's nose. Two young men, possibly in their early twenties and wearing t-shirts with the logo of some college on it, stepped out; one of them exited from the back, the other from the driver's side.

'Oh man, about damn time we took a break.' one of the men said, stretching himself. 'I'm gonna be the next one to drive when we leave, okay?'

'No way dude, you are way too stoned to drive, remember?' the other man, who was way chubbier and shorter than his thin and lanky companion, chuckled.

Stoner Dude sheepishly sniggered. 'Oh yeah, that's true...'

That's when they noticed the tall biker, his arms and chest covered in numerous tattoos, filling up his motorcycle. Stoner Dude poked his buddy with his elbow and grinned from ear to ear. 'Check out that fucker...' he chuckled, obviously not frightened by Baron's incredible height and intimidating tattoos.

'Hey there, big guy!' Chubby Dude hollered. 'Alone on the road, are we?'

Baron didn't say anything, deciding to not give these stupid fuckfaces the attention they wanted from him; he would be done soon anyway, they weren't worth his time.

'He's not saying anything, bro!' Chubby Dude said. 'I think he's trying to ignore us!'

'Like hell he will!'

Stoner Dude walked towards Baron and poked him on the arm. 'Hey, why aren't you talking back, you fucking moron?' he asked, his grin not disappearing from his face. 'Cat got your tongue? Or you just simply too fucking stupid to talk?'

Despite the filth this baked shithead was spewing out of his mouth, Baron still decided to keep his cool and ignore him, not even glancing at him. But that apparently didn't stop this idiot from taunting him. In fact, he now got a 'brilliant' idea in his head that would make this tall stranger talk for sure... Without thinking about it twice, Stoner Dude kicked Baron's motorcycle with all the strength he had. 'What are you gonna do now, huh?' he said. 'Are you gonna say something back now, you stupid motherfu-'

Instead of more filth, blood spewed out of Stoner Dude's mouth as Baron had fully buried his fingers into his throat, grabbing his larynx. With one swift pull, Baron ripped it out of his throat and tossed it to the ground, watching as Stoner Dude's eyes went wide with horror as more blood flowed out of his mouth, choking him. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell down. A pool of blood was quickly formed, growing bigger and bigger in mere seconds. Baron looked up, staring Chubby Dude straight in the eyes. Just like the eyes of his dead buddy, Chubby Dude's eyes went wide with shock, his body trembling all over as he realized his deadly mistake.

'Holy shit...' he whimpered in fear.

Not thinking about it twice, he turned around and ran away in an attempt to escape the murderous stranger, screaming at the top of his lungs.

But Baron wasn't planning on letting him go far.

He pulled out his large knife, rushed towards his next victim, grabbed him from behind and launched the serrated blade right into his chest. The demon ripped the blade of his knife through his entire chest, ripping through his ribcage and organs, causing Chubby Dude to let out a strangled scream, allowing a wave of blood to escape his mouth. Baron let go of him and he dropped to the ground, coloring it red.

Staring at the blood-stained ground, Baron didn't even flinch; those stupid fuckers had what was coming to them. But he didn't want to let their blood go to waste. No, it could still be used for good use to him.

The blood of the two men suddenly seemed to float, as if gravity had ceased to exist. Then it flowed right towards Baron, heading towards his chest area. Baron started to absorb all the blood into his tattoos, transforming it into ink and brightening the designs. The ink ranged from the colors red, blue, black and orange. Baron hadn't sensed any bitterness in the hearts of those two fools, so their life forces would be useless to him; their blood however, helped him multiply his strength. He had to balance the source of his demonic magic powers, which lied in the ink of his tattoos, with his physical powers, which lied in his body itself. If he wouldn't find the right life force, there wouldn't be a right balance and he wouldn't function properly. When he finished absorbing the last drop of blood, his tattoos glowed with unnaturally bright lights. Baron could practically feel that he was becoming stronger. Looks like these two fools were good for something after all.

Looking up, Baron quickly found out that the man inside the gas station had seen everything, because he was staring right at him through the window with his eyes wide with fear.

He really couldn't use any witnesses now.

As he approached the sliding doors of the building, Baron mentally made a note to himself to destroy the surveillance cameras and the tapes as well.

Finn Bálor would have no idea what was coming to him.


	5. Something Dark And Dangerous

**Chapter 5**

 **Something Dark And Dangerous**

It had taken a long time, but Roman Reigns thought it was safe to say that he was completely used to living in the Mortal Realm by now.

Despite the fact that nearly ten years had passed since he had left his home world, he could still clearly remember how it looked like whenever he closed his eyes. The Angel Realm... there was no other realm out there that was so serene, peaceful and pure like this one. It was a kingdom of lush, untouched nature, a fantasy land where anyone would love to get lost in and stay there forever. The angels who roamed that realm were peaceful creatures, tasked with keeping order in the realm and keep the peace. Living in the Angel Realm was absolutely divine...

Until the day it was fused together with the Demon Realm with dark magic, expanding the dark realm.

Roman, or any other angel for that matter, had never found out who was the one responsible for this (a treacherous angel, a demon who had somehow infiltrated the realm?), but it didn't last long before demons swarmed in, invading the realm and corrupting everything that had once been pure and beautiful, turning the landscapes into haunting wastelands that attracted other creatures that lived in the Demon Realm. Of course Roman refused to give up his home world to these ferocious bastards; along with a few other angels, he took a stand against the demons, fighting back as hard as he could. Many of his comrades had fallen during the raging fight against the demons, but Roman had never considered giving up, not for a moment. But unfortunately, the demons proved themselves to be way stronger than the angels, and more of them entered the captured realm, their numbers growing so fast that Roman, with an indescribable amount of pain in his heart, was forced to give up. His kind was outnumbered. The only way to escape the demons was to escape to a different realm; the realm that was considered safe enough for the angels to stay in was the Mortal Realm, the home realm of the humans. Just before the demons could reach them, Roman and a handful of other angels who survived the corruption and bloodshed fled through a portal that lead them to the Mortal Realm, abandoning their home world. To this day, Roman could never forgive himself for not being able to save his home realm; the same went for his fallen comrades.

It lasted a while before he could fully adapt himself to his new life in the Mortal Realm, but Roman had managed to get used to it. Yes, living here would never feel the same as living in the Angel Realm, but luckily Roman had found something later on that he possibly would've never gotten back in home realm. Something that was dear to his heart, more than anything else. He met a human woman who he fell in love with and she, despite not knowing the true nature of her lover, fell in love with him as well. Her name was Galina and she was the most loving, caring woman he had ever met. After nearly two years of dating, the two got married. Nine months later, Roman was finally able to hold the sunshine that lightened up his entire world in his arms.

Today he was going to pick up his little piece of sunshine up at her school, like he would do every afternoon since Galina would still be at work by that time. It was the time of the day that the angel was looking forward to, more than anything else. Standing in front of the school along with some other parents, he could feel the three pairs of eyes who belonged to a group of three mothers staring at him, he could clearly hear the women whisper and chuckle. There was no way to deny that Roman was a beautiful man; his black hair reached past his shoulders, he was tall and muscled, had a tanned skin, his left arm was covered in tribe-like tattoos and his eyes were blue like the clear sky in summer. So it was no surprise that he would often catch the attention of girls and women, who couldn't help but stare at the gorgeous man, sometimes much to his wife's agony. The angel was pretty sure that most mothers that were here would be more than willing to allow their children to play with his daughter, as long as they were the ones to pick them up by the end of the day, all just to catch a glimpse of the good-looking father.

The loud school bell suddenly rang and the large doors opened. Excited voices that belonged to a few dozen children could be heard as they entered the schoolyard, some of the children would stand still to have a quick chat before they would leave while other children immediately ran towards their parents or the school bus. And there she was, that one little girl who Roman loved more than life itself, her brunette hair tied in two braided pigtails, wearing a pink t-shirt, a pair of jeans and white sneakers; it was none other than his precious eight-year old daughter Joelle.

Joelle smiled from ear to ear when she spotted her father across the schoolyard and ran towards him, ignoring the heavy weight of her pink backpack. Watching her running to him made Roman feel so blessed to be the father of this little girl; leaving his home realm behind for this realm was definitely worth it. She had no idea what her father actually was, but Roman thought it was better if it would stay like this for now.

'Daddy!' Joelle exclaimed when she was just a few steps away from her father. The angel went down on one knee and spread his arms.

'There's my little princess!' he said with a big smile on his face, pulling his daughter in for a hug. This was all he asked for, this was all he needed to make his day; nothing could ruin his day once he would get a hug from Joelle. 'How was your day, sweetie?'

'It was good.' Joelle replied. 'At gym classes we were playing basketball and I scored two points!'

'Oh really? That's great! My little girl is going to be a famous athlete one day!'

Joelle giggled at her father's compliment. 'You know that I'm not that good at sports, daddy!'

'But when you score two points at basketball, it's a start, no?'

'I guess so.'

'Come on, let's go home. I can still help you with homework before your mom comes home.'

'Okay!'

Father and daughter walked away from the school, heading home. The school bus passed them by and Joelle couldn't help but quickly wave at her friends who were in that bus. She was quite a little social butterfly, it was a normal occasion that one or two friends would often visit their home to play with her. Roman knew that a lot of bad stuff was happening in this world, but whenever he was walking home with his little daughter... it felt like the world had gotten a whole lot better. Walking home with her felt so peaceful, it was all he needed to put his heart at rest.

'So what else did you do today, Joelle?' Roman asked.

'Well, let's see... oh yeah, I made a macaroni painting today at art class! I still have it in my backpack, I hope it won't be broken when we get home.'

'Don't worry about it sweetie, I know you're careful when-'

A heavy jolt of pain suddenly filled Roman's entire head, causing him to slam his eyes shut and let out a grunt. It felt like all sounds had ceased to exist around him, leaving him in a dark world of silence. Normally any person would freak the fuck out if something like this would happen, but the angel knew exactly what was happening; he was about to have a vision. Something slowly started to form a humanoid shape, becoming clearer with each second until Roman could perfectly see what it was. And it made a heavy chill run up his spine. The creature may have a humanoid form, but it was anything but human; it was a monster with razor sharp teeth, completely white eyes and a skin that was black like the night with thick, red veins pulsing on the arms and legs. It was staring right at him, letting out a bloodcurdling roar. Then, as sudden as the vision appeared, it was gone in the blink of an eye. Roman's surroundings came back, along with the sounds of traffic passing them by.

'Daddy?'

Looking down, Roman stared straight at Joelle's worried face. 'Is everything alright?' she asked. 'Do you have a headache? Is it because I'm talking to much?'

Roman curled the corners of his mouth and shook his head. 'No honey, it's okay. You're not talking too much, really.'

While he was reassuring his daughter that everything was fine with him, truth was that Roman hadn't felt this unsettled in a long time.

* * *

'Hey, you wanna bet for ten dollars that I can hit that guy in that fancy suit down there with my milkshake from up here?'

'Come on Dean, act like a damn adult for once. And you know that you're going to get us caught if you do that.'

'Alright, fine... you goddamn stick-in-the-mud.' Dean Ambrose, fellow angel, Roman's best friend and Joelle's godfather, rolled his eyes in annoyance and put his strawberry-flavored milkshake back on the ledge of the roof. The day was almost coming to an end as the sun slowly lowered itself at the horizon; Roman had always thought the colors a sunset would produce gave the city something soothing, he didn't know why, he couldn't exactly put a finger on it. The angel had told his wife that he would be meeting up with his friend after dinner. Sitting here on the rooftop of the apartment complex (which was located in the more shady-looking part of the city) Dean lived along with his girlfriend Renee, the two angels were free to reveal their true selves. Large wings, with feathers as white as untouched snow, had protruded from their backs and were completely relaxed, ready for when they would be used for flight. Dean and Renee were two of the handful of angels who were able to escape the collapsing Angel Realm along with Roman. They were the only two angels who were living in the same city Roman did; the other angels all had gone their own ways.

'So how are you two holding up?' Roman asked. 'Does Renee still work at the supermarket?'

'Yeah, she does.' Dean replied, nodding. 'I'm still looking for a job, though. Renee works hard you know, I'll let you know, I'm really damn proud of her. She doesn't earn that much money, but at least we can pay the bills with it.'

'That's good.'

'Say, what was it that you wanted to talk about?' Dean asked after taking a sip from his milkshake. 'You've wanted to talk to me for a reason, so spit it out, big guy. What is it?'

'I've had a vision, Dean.'

'A vision? Are you serious? When was the last time you had that?'

'I don't remember, it has been a long time... but this vision, it's... it unsettles me so much. I can't shake off the feeling that something bad is going to happen. Like... that it's going to happen to Joelle.'

'Really? What did you see?'

'I saw something that resembled a man at first. But when it got clearer, I saw a demon. And it was one hell of a demon, it was one big mean motherfucker with razor sharp teeth.' Goosebumps appeared over Roman's tanned arms. 'They reminded me of knives.'

'Damn.'

'You could say that again. I can't shake it off, Dean, it was so strange. I want to know what this vision means.'

'Then you go out and find out more about it.' the other angel simply replied. 'If it's really bothering you that much, you should find out why you had it in the first place. If you find the source, you could either destroy it or let it be if it doesn't pose a threat, that's your choice. Then Joelle will be safe and you can move on. But...'

'But what?'

Dean paused for a moment, as if he was considering about telling his true thoughts to his friend. 'If I can be honest... I'm worried about you, Ro. I know you want to create a better world for Joelle to live in. I get that man, I want that too for Renee, but you... I'm not going to lie, you are just obsessed with it. I'm telling you man, that damn obsession is getting out of hand. It's going to kill you one day.'

'Now you listen to me, Dean. I would do anything to make this realm a better place for Joelle's sake, even if I have to die for it. I don't care if I'll have to die, as long as my little girl will be safe. I couldn't care less about my own safety. Joelle is everything for me. There is now way in hell I'm going to let that demon harm my daughter. Besides, if something will happen to me... I know that you will be a good godfather to her. You're a great guy, Dean. Joelle can look up to you for sure.'

'You can trust me on that. It's just that... I don't want her to lose her old man just yet. That little girl needs you, Roman.'

'And I need her to be safe.' Roman stood up and stared at Dean. 'I'm going to find that demon. I may have failed in protecting the Angel Realm and our fallen comrades, but I'll be damned if I fail in protecting my daughter. Thank you for listening to me, Dean. I will talk to you later. Tell Renee I said hello.'

'I will, thanks. See you later. Be careful, bro.'

The raven-haired angel suddenly spread his wings, causing two feathers to fall out and swirl to the ground. He ascended to the sky, fluttered his wings and flew away, heading back home. Dean watched until Roman had disappeared out of his view.

'Hmm. And then he tells me to not draw any attention.' he mumbled before taking another sip of his milkshake.


	6. The Trailer Park Massacre

**Chapter 6**

 **The Trailer Park Massacre**

If there had to be one thing said about Paige, it would definitely be the fact that she wasn't like all the other landladies. When Finn was allowed to stay at The Pentagram, he honestly expected that he would had to pay a certain amount of money once a month. He did have some money left, so that wouldn't be a problem. But when the demon hunter asked his landlady how much he had to pay for staying at the end of the first month, she had chuckled and shook her head. Paige didn't ask for any money; Finn could work in The Pentagram as a form of payment, until he would find a new apartment to live in. And since there is nothing worse than sitting around for a whole day with nothing to do, Finn accepted the job. Paige had allowed him to rest for some time and as soon as he was recovered from his injuries, the demon hunter started his new part-time job at The Pentagram.

The gothic shop looked so much different at daytime. Finn had always thought there was quite a relaxing atmosphere lingering around the shop, which made it a really pleasant place to work at. Paige would always light up some incense before she would open the store; her favorite type of incense was lavender, which was also a delightful smell for Finn. He was convinced that whenever he would smell lavender, he would always be reminded of working at this store. The female demon would then complete the typical atmosphere of the shop by playing all sorts of metal genres on the stereo near the cash register, ranging from trash metal to gothic symphonic metal. And of course, the music would be played with a low volume, so that everybody could work or look around without becoming deaf at the end of the day.

Finn enjoyed working at The Pentagram, he really did. Whenever a new delivery came in, he was the one who put all the new t-shirts, jackets and tops in the racks. After a little while, he knew exactly how to take a mannequin apart and put it back together. He cleaned the windows until his arms were sore. He was willing to help a customer whenever he or she couldn't decide whether he or she should buy that one t-shirt from the most popular metal band at the moment. He always made sure the customer would get the right amount of change after making a purchase. And if there was nothing to do at the moment, Finn could always sweep the floor with the broom he would get from the apartment upstairs.

Most customers who would visit the store were usually teenagers, some of them dropped by a couple of times a week, which gave them the opportunity to make a little chat with Finn at the cash register. The demon hunter actually got along well with the goth teens, he thought they were okay kids and he even had a laugh with them sometimes. Paige clearly appreciated his help, she would always tell him at the end of the day that he did a great job; as a reward, she would cook dinner for him.

Today, business had been busier than it had been lately, much to both Finn's and Paige's surprise. They barely had a moment to sit for a second, it was that busy. But this was only a good sign, though; more business meant more money. When the afternoon rolled around the corner, the two decided that it was time for a short, well-deserved break.

'Feeling like quitting the job yet?' Paige jokingly asked when she poured a glass of orange juice for her employee/roommate. The female demon had just prepared two grilled cheese sandwiches, which she put on a plate and put it in front of Finn, who was sitting at the dinner table.

'Ye're jokin', right?' the demon hunter replied with a smirk on his face. 'This is way less boring than those days where there's absolutely nothin' to do. It keeps me busy.'

'I've gotta give it to you Finn, you're handling this way better than all the others who worked here before you. One busy day and they started to crack. No, they preferred to sponge off their parents than actually work for their own money, I suppose. Really Finn, I think you're the best worker I've had here!'

'Oh shucks Paige, you're just bein' too nice.'

Taking a bite from his grilled cheese sandwich, the demon hunter could taste that the female demon had done a wonderful job once again. Her cooking skills were improving more and more; if she kept it up like this, she could possibly also run a little diner. Finn wondered if the diner would have the same gothic style as the shop. Bat-shaped desserts, lasagna covered in cobwebs of cheese, metal music as 'relaxing' background music for a whole day... Paige's extraordinary diner would sure make a name for itself in this city.

Just then, the demon hunter noticed that Paige was staring at his grilled cheese sandwich with a slightly disgusted look on her face.

'Is there something wrong?' he asked.

'It's just that... I don't understand how humans can eat some types of food. I mean, look at that cheese... it looks all gooey and it has such a strange smell... I really don't get why you would enjoy eating that.'

Finn chuckled. He knew exactly why Paige was thinking like that. Since demons didn't need to consume normal food in order to survive, there was no need for her to eat anything and they would never go hungry... unless they had to feed on the life forces of humans. But thankfully this wasn't Paige's case.

'Ya know, it really doesn't taste that bad at all. Ya may think it looks gross, but that doesn't mean that it tastes gross. I'll promise you this, Paige. One day, I'll order ya a pizza and ye'll see how delicious human food can be.'

The female demon wrinkled her nose in disgust. 'Fine...' she said. 'As long as you'll also eat a piece, okay?'

'Ya got my word.'

The intro song of a well-known news channel was suddenly heard in the apartment, catching Finn's and Paige's attention; before she had started making Finn's lunch, the female demon had turned on the TV. An anchorman appeared on the screen, sitting behind the desk and holding some papers, ready for announcing yet another live broadcast. Finn looked up and stared at the screen. As a demon hunter, the news was your best friend, because before you knew it, you might have a new case to solve.

'Good afternoon, this is the news from two o'clock, presented to you by Byron Saxton.' the anchorman said. 'Police has made a grisly discovery on a trailer park a few miles from the city of San Jose. All of the residents have been found dead in their trailers and what makes this case especially eerie for the police, is that no clear signs of any possible cause of death have been found. Police are currently speculating that a deadly gas leak might have taken place, but this still has to be investigated.'

'Bloody hell... did ya hear that, Paige?' Finn asked. As soon as he heard that the police hadn't found any clues of what the cause of death could be, a strange feeling he knew too well had began to develop inside his guts. It was the kind of feeling someone would get if something felt horribly wrong... and a demon hunter would heavily rely on that feeling. 'I have my suspicions that a demon might be behind this... I ought to pay a little visit to that trailer park, see if I can find somethin'.'

'But you've heard what that anchorman said, Finn. The police think it might've been a gas leak, which would be a logical explanation. Just because they haven't found any evidence yet, doesn't mean that a demon is responsible for this. Maybe...'

The ringtone of Finn's cell phone abruptly interrupted Paige, making her close her mouth in annoyance. The demon hunter fetched his cell phone out of his pocket and immediately recognized the phone number that was displayed on the screen. He pressed a button and pressed the phone against his ear.

'Hey Dolph, what do you got?' Finn asked.

'Finn, have you already heard the news of that trailer park?' the blonde detective replied on the other side of the line. 'That one where they found no clues yet?'

'Yeah, I did. Why?'

'I've got something that might interest you. There's a witness who claimed to have seen something at that trailer park. She has already told her story, but I thought it might be useful to you.'

The feeling that had been uncomfortably pooling in Finn's guts turned out to be justified. 'Really? What did she tell?'

'I can't tell you right now, I'm still at the crime scene. If my colleagues find out I've been leaking confidential information to an outsider, I'm going to be fired for sure. They can trace my phone calls, you know. But we can meet up somewhere, that would be safer. Do you know that fast food restaurant near the highway? Burger Benny?'

'Uh... yeah, I know where that is.'

'Good, let's meet up there. I'll see you later, Finn.'

'Okay then. See ya, Dolph.'

And gone was Dolph. 'I've gotta go, Paige.' the demon hunter said, facing the female demon. 'Do ya think ya can handle the shore alone for a while?'

'No problem.' Paige replied. 'I can do it, I've done it alone most of the time anyway. You can borrow my car if you want to. But Finn... for the love of God, please be careful.'

* * *

Burger Benny was that typical kind of fast food chain that would never be found in the big cities but rather on the sides of big highways, no matter how hard the company would try to promote it on TV. Their mascot, a cartoon boy with big blue eyes, red curly hair, freckles, chubby cheeks, wearing a chef's hat and apron and holding a hamburger in his hand, would never be one of the most well-known characters in pop culture. Dolph had always thought how depressing one's life must be if you had to flip burgers, deep-fry frozen French fries and clean the piss and vomit at the play place of a fast food restaurant; he almost felt sorry for the young man with the care-worn face, who was standing behind the cash register and being yelled at by a disgruntled customer. The fast food restaurant itself looked like it had been cleaned recently, but it was still not the kind of place the detective would want to work.

When he heard the sliding doors opening, Dolph looked up and spotted Finn entering the restaurant, who looked around to see where his detective friend was at. The blonde detective waved his hand in the air and the demon hunter noticed him.

'Hey man, how are ya doin'?' Finn asked when he sat down next to Dolph. 'Sorry if I'm late, traffic was a pain in the arse.'

'It's okay, don't worry about it.' the detective replied. 'Do you want to eat something?'

'Nah, that's okay. I just ate. So what do ya got, pal? What did that witness say?'

The trailer park was settled on a rather remote place, and since Levesque City was the closest place nearby with a police force, Dolph and his colleagues were dispatched to investigate the crime scene. While driving his car, the detective had thought about the 911 call that had been made earlier, sparking the investigation. Apparently all the residents of that trailer park had been found dead this afternoon by a young lady who claimed to live at the trailer park herself. She was told to stay at the crime scene until the police arrived, which she clearly did when Dolph parked his car near the trailer park. He could clearly remember how the young woman looked like. She was still young, possibly in her late twenties, had a beautiful mocca-colored skin and she was still trembling all over her body. One of the officers had given her a blanket for some comfort. Her name was Alicia Fox and she had one hell of a story to tell...

'The witness told us that she had been going out with friends the night before the murders took place.' Dolph said. 'Ms. Fox had been sleeping at one of her friends' place. When she came home this afternoon, she saw a tall man with tattoos leaving the trailer park on a motorcycle. But the strangest thing about him was... that all of his tattoos were glowing.'

Finn frowned in confusion. 'Glowin'?'

'Yeah, that's what's in her statement. After that man left, Ms. Fox decided to ask a neighbor, who happens to be close to her, if he knew this man. She could see him lying down on the kitchen floor, dead. When she tried to look for help, she found all the other bodies...' Dolph shook his head. 'I don't think Ms. Fox is going to sleep well for a long time.'

'Ye're damn right about that, that poor lass. But... the news said that no evidence of foul play has been found yet. Do ya got an explanation for that as well?'

'Yeah, I wanted to tell you about that as well. We have been dusting for fingerprints, we have been checking for any possible gas leaks, hell, even for poison in the drinking water... but we've found nothing. There were no signs of forced entry either, all the locks of the trailers were intact.'

Dolph slightly leaned towards Finn. 'Now you tell me, Finn... A mysterious biker with glowing tattoos... a pile of bodies, all undamaged... no signs of forced entry... no fingerprints... what does that sound like to you?'

Oh yes. The demon hunter knew exactly what this was sounding like.

There was no doubt that a demon was behind all of this.


	7. Earning A New Enemy

**Chapter 7**

 **Earning A New Enemy**

A man with glowing tattoos... there was no doubt that an ink demon was behind the massacre. But the strange thing was that Finn had never encountered one during his stay in the United States. Not that ink demons were rare, but he had expected to at least encounter five or so during his past months in this country. The demon hunter had fought many ink demons back when he lived in Ireland, some of them were easy to defeat, others were definitely more of a challenge. But challenge or not, once he would track down a malevolent demon, Finn wouldn't give up until the fight would be won. He refused to be one of the demon hunters who would die during the job; the chance was big, but he wasn't planning on dying just yet. No, there were still evil demons to be destroyed. Finn had heard of the gruesome deaths many demon hunters died; decapitation, life force consumed, burned to death, strangulation, torn to pieces, throat ripped open and much more. Horrible deaths, each of them. Just one little mistake, one little slip-up during the battle, and it could be all over for a demon hunter. It wouldn't matter if you were a rookie or a professional, each move in a fight would matter. But Finn had fought demons so many times, he knew exactly which move to make in order to take his opponent down as quick as possible... and give them an immediate death, if that was needed.

Dolph had lightened up a cigarette when they stepped outside Burger Benny, which made the demon hunter snigger; he remembered that Dolph told him that his wife Kaitlyn wanted him to quit smoking because of the stench that lingered in their apartment and the detective had given up his bad habit... and after three full weeks, he had finally given in. Finn hoped for Dolph that Kaitlyn wouldn't smell the nicotine around him at the end of the day, or else he would probably have to sleep on the couch tonight.

But hell... Finn thought Dolph deserved a cigarette after seeing all those dead bodies back in the trailer park.

Finn watched his detective friend drive back onto the highway, planning to head back to the trailer park to join the forensics team to see if he was lucky enough to find evidence. But Finn wasn't that sure that Dolph and his colleagues were going to find anything, no matter how hard they would try. And now that he had obtained information to start a new case, the demon hunter thought it was time to head back to The Pentagram; maybe Paige would happen to know more about this ink demon.

But when Finn entered the highway, it looked like he wasn't going to be back home in time. Everywhere he looked, there were cars, lined up and barely moving. Looking in his rear view mirror, the demon hunter saw that more cars were behind him, closing him in. Damn it, maybe there had been an accident a couple miles further... hopefully nobody got hurt. Traffic wasn't going to be on Finn's side today, that was pretty clear now. Paige was probably going to wonder where he was if he didn't tell her he was going to be late. And maybe she was going to need her car for something... But maybe there was no need to call her; Finn knew this part of the highway, he could exit it at one point and head towards another direction to avoid any more traffic. The ride home was going to last longer if he would do that, but at least he wouldn't be stuck. Finn knew that there was a remote road that would lead him back to Levesque City, he had done this before, it was the best option he had right now. As soon as the demon hunter saw the chance, he turned on his blinker and carefully maneuvered the car between the other cars and safely exited the highway, leaving the traffic behind him.

It didn't last long at all before Finn entered the remote road. It was just like he had expected; there wasn't a single car to be seen, it was him alone. Even though there was green grass everywhere, there wasn't a single tree, thus giving the sun the perfect opportunity to shine bright in the bright blue sky without the hindrance of any shadows. It was a beautiful summer day, but Finn didn't pay much attention to it. As he drove down the road, his mind wandered off to the conversation between him and Dolph. So far he had no idea who this mysterious ink demon was, but he planned on searching for answers as soon as night fell. Because when darkness fell, most demons would come out. Hopefully one of them would cooperate and give him the-

Finn's thoughts were cut short when a humanoid figure with large, white, feathered wings crashed down from the sky and landed right in front of the car.

'Shite!' the demon hunter exclaimed, his heart shooting straight into his throat. With less than a second to think, he steered to his left in an attempt to dodge the figure, which seemed to work... but unfortunately he didn't see the lamppost that was installed next to the road. The impact launched Finn forward as the sound of crashing metal and shattering glass filled his ears and the world around him seemed like shaking. He hit his head against the steering wheel, causing him to grunt in pain. A sharp pain filled his head, but it wasn't enough to knock him out cold. As sudden as the crash happened, it was just as sudden as the world around Finn stopped shaking. The demon hunter slowly lifted his head, trying to ignore the pain. He touched his forehead, but didn't feel anything wet; there was no cut, but the impact sure was going to leave a big bruise.

'What the bloody hell was that thing?' Finn groaned.

His hand searched for the car's door handle and it found it. When Finn opened the door, small pieces of shattered glass fell out of the frame and fell into the grass. The demon hunter stepped out of the crashed vehicle, luckily he hadn't sustained any damage to his legs.

'Have ya lost yer mind?!' he shouted while walking to the road. 'I could've died there, ya stupid-'

The demon hunter abruptly stopped shouting when he got a clear view on the thing that had send him crashing against the lamppost.

A tall man with long dark hair, tanned skin, piercing blue eyes and a sleeve of tattoos was standing in the middle of the road, glaring straight at the demon hunter. A pair of white, feathered wings protruded from his back, looking even larger than they did before the crash now that they were fully spread; it looked like this creature was ready for a fight. Finn had seen many things during his career as a demon hunter, but this... he had never seen anything like this.

'An angel?' he questioned in awe. 'But... how can that be? I thought they had gone extinct...' A professional demon hunter would have studied about the history of the Demon Realm; and the fusion with the fallen Angel Realm would always be an important part of the realm's dark history.

'You're wrong about that.' the angel growled. 'There are still some of us left... and the deaths of my comrades are the doing of you evil bastards! Don't deny that there's demon blood in you! I can see it in your aura! You're a half-demon!'

'Who are ya?'

'The name is Roman.' the angel replied. There was no mistake about it; this was the demon who had been appearing in his vision. While he was flying through the sky this afternoon in his own search for answers, Roman had received another sudden vision. This time he could see the monstrous demon reverting back into his human form, which had briefly made him question if that abomination was entirely demon after all. Then he saw brief flashes of a deserted road, a few miles outside the city. Only one car was driving on that road... and that freak was inside the vehicle. It didn't take long to find him. 'And I am here to end you.'

'End me? What for? Have we ever met? For as far as I am concerned, I don't believe I have any business with ya, Roman.'

'I have had visions of you, half-demon. I can feel in my bones that you are pure evil, I felt it from the moment you appeared in my visions. And I will gladly make it my life mission to eliminate scumbags like you!'

He was serious about this... but there was no way Finn was going to back down.

'Alright then, lad... let's see if ye're strong enough to take on me.' he calmly replied; he was ready for a brawl.

Those words were more than enough for Roman to start the fight.

Light blue energy formed around his fists, shaping into thick gauntlets made of nothing but pure energy. Letting out a furious roar, the angel rapidly charged towards the demon hunter, clenching his fists, ready to launch the first punches. But Finn wasn't planning on letting Roman striking him that easily. Roman was fast enough to reach the demon hunter in a second, but his punches all landed on Finn's arms, which he held in front of his face, using them as a shield. He channeled his dark energy to his arm and launched a punch into Roman's stomach, the energy multiplying the strength of the impact. The angel let out a strangled exclamation in pain, a small drop of blood could been seen flying out of his mouth. The punch had caused the angel to be flung to the asphalt road, but the thought of lying on the asphalt and writhing in pain didn't cross his mind for one second. With one powerful flutter of his wings, Roman ascended into the air and immediately charged towards Finn once again, who was ready to punch him once more. But this time, the angel had a slight change in his attack. As soon as he got close to the demon hunter, he aimed both his feet at his chest and struck him with full force, knocking him to the ground. Roman didn't waste any time and got on top of him. While holding him down with one hand, he punched Finn with the other hand as hard as he could, tearing open the skin underneath his gauntlet. Finn could feel his face break, but he refused to be defeated like this. The demon hunter head butted against the angel's nose with full force, causing him to stop punching and cover his bloody nose, groaning in pain. Finn took this brief moment to fight back, pushing Roman off of him and grabbing his head. Grabbing a fistful of hair, the demon hunter began to bash his head against the asphalt, soon staining it with blood. Finn could feel strong gusts of wind in his back, which was the result of Roman violently flapping his wings in an attempt to escape his death grip, but it was futile. The more Finn bashed Roman's head against the asphalt, the more the movements of the wings weakened. As soon as his wings stopped moving, Finn allowed the dark energy to travel to his arm once more, transforming his hand into a claw in the progress, and threw Roman away as far as he could. The injured angel crashed onto the road four meters away. As soon as his body hit the asphalt, he laid completely still.

For a moment Finn thought he was dead, but when he walked towards the lifeless body, he saw the wings slightly twitching. Finn's demonic powers didn't only give him superhuman strength, but also the power of regeneration; as he got closer to the beaten angel, the wounds on his face quickly started to heal, soon it looked like he had never been beaten with a gauntlet. He heard Roman letting out a soft groan as he tried to get up and saw that he had just enough strength left to roll onto his back and sit up. Blood was streaming down the angel's face, making his piercing blue eyes nearly intimidating. He glared at the demon hunter, who was now standing in front of him. Finn could easily guess what was going through his mind right now; he was going to kill him, right on this spot.

But he wasn't like that.

'Look, I'm not goin' to kill ya.' the demon hunter said. 'I am not the threat who ya think I am. Here, let me help ya get up.'

Finn reached out his hand, expecting from Roman to grab it and allow him to pull him up. But instead of accepting the gesture, the angel slapped the hand away. 'Get the hell away from me!' he hissed angrily, spitting out droplets of blood mixed with saliva. He clenched his fists and attempted to summon back his gauntlets, but much to his surprise, only a few sparks of energy appeared around his fists. When Roman shifted his attention back to him, Finn felt like his blue eyes were piercing him right through his soul.

'This isn't the end, freak!' the angel snarled. 'I may be weak now, but I swear to God... if we ever cross paths again... I will murder you! Believe that!'

Then Roman spread his wings, ascended high into the sky, turned around and flew away, heading back to the city. Finn watched him until he disappeared out of his sight.

If they would ever encounter each other again, he would definitely be ready for another brawl.

He rested his hand onto his pocket, where he felt something; he quickly realized that it was his pistol. Damn it, why didn't he think of using that earlier during the fight? But even if he used it... would bullets made of rock salt have any effect on angels? Finn wasn't quite sure of that. Turning around, he saw Paige's car, or what was left of it, with its front nearly entirely wrapped around the lamppost. There was no way in hell that thing was going to work again.

'Great...' Finn mumbled in annoyance. 'Paige is not goin' to be happy with this.'

Something was telling him that this was going to be one long walk.


	8. Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Lone Wolf?

**Chapter 8**

 **Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Lone Wolf?**

Where the hell was he?

That was the only question that was on Paige's mind right now. Almost three hours (maybe even more by now, she hadn't looked at the clock yet) had passed since Finn had left The Pentagram and the female demon hadn't heard a thing of him since then. Normally she wasn't really that worried whenever her tenant/employee went out to do his job and give those evil bastards a taste of their own medicine, but this time he had gone out to talk with Dolph... something that shouldn't take that ridiculously long.

For the whole afternoon, Paige was forced to handle all the customers that visited her shop and there were many customers that day, more than usual, she figured out this was probably because it was the weekends. She had to do everything alone, something she was used to, but she couldn't help but be mad at Finn for a moment. Damn it, why did he have to go now? But Paige decided to put her anger aside and focus on her work; Finn was doing his work as well, so she shouldn't be mad at him for that.

But by the time Paige closed down The Pentagram, the demon hunter still hadn't returned.

That's when the female demon started to get worried. She constantly checked her cell phone to see if he had left any messages or even tried to call her, but there was nothing. And even when Paige tried to call him, a monotone voice of a woman announced that the number she had tried to reach wasn't available at the moment, which made a really uncomfortable feeling well up in her guts. Could it be that something happened to Finn? While sweeping the floor of the shop, Paige had tried to ignore that feeling, telling herself that Finn would knock on the door at any moment now, but nobody showed up. When she went upstairs to her apartment, hundreds of thoughts of what could've possibly happened to the demon hunter went through Paige's mind. An ambush by a shape-shifting demon, a horrible car crash, those were just two of the many thoughts.

Staring through the window and watching the sun lowered behind the buildings of Levesque City, the female demon waited for a sign of life from the demon hunter, it didn't matter how small it was, it would still mean that he was still alive and unharmed. Damn... who ever thought she would be worried about a demon hunter, the one thing she had to despise the most. The number one enemy of every demon... and yet here she was, worrying where he could be. Paige had to admit, she had very little trust in Finn during the first days he was staying at The Pentagram. But as time went on, she saw that there was no reason to distrust him. Finn was a good employee, she could always have a nice conversation with him and even though she often wished that he would be more careful whenever he would come back to The Pentagram, she would be relieved to see him back.

She had started to care about him like some sort of brother; that was the best way Paige could describe.

Three knocks on the door downstairs alarmed her almost immediately. Paige turned around, exited the apartment and quickly downstairs, hoping from the bottom of her heart that it was who she thought it was. Thankfully her hopes were justified when she heard a familiar voice with an Irish accent calling out her name behind the door, asking if she was there. Opening the door, the female demon's heart cringed in relief.

It was Finn, thank God. And it looked like he was completely unharmed, but large sweat stains were visible on his armpits.

'Finn!' Paige exclaimed in a hushed voice. 'Quick, get in before someone sees you!'

She practically pulled the demon hunter inside, her eyes quickly darting around to see if anyone else was outside before shutting the door. Once the door was closed, her relief turned into anger.

'Where in the bloody hell were you?!' the female demon shouted angrily. 'Do you have any idea how fucking worried I was?! Why didn't you pick up your bloody cell phone?! I thought something had happened to you! I even thought at one point you were dead, you bloody idiot!'

Finn decided to ignore the angry insults; worry can do a lot of things to a person after all. 'I'm sorry about this Paige, I really am.' he said calmly. 'But even if I wanted to call ya, I couldn't.'

'What? Why?'

'Because... Because my phone was destroyed when I crashed yer car. I had to walk all the way back.'

'Wait... you... you crashed my car?!' The bad news only increased Paige's anger, so much that her eyes started to glow with a strange, dark blue light. 'You crashed my fucking car?! That car was brand new, goddamn it! Do you know for how long I've saved up money to buy one?! Months, Finn! Months! How the fuck did you-'

'Paige, calm down, let me explain.' Finn was convinced that if he was going to start shouting too, the female demon's rage would unleash in a burst of dark energy, possibly wiping the whole store clean off the Earth if they were unlucky enough. 'I didn't do it on purpose, believe me. Somethin' had appeared in front of the car and I dodged it... but I accidently crashed yer car in the progress. I'm sorry for that. I'll get ya another one as soon I have enough money, okay? Now please calm down, or else ya might blow up the store.'

Much to his relief, the demon hunter saw the glow in Paige's eyes softening until it was completely gone. 'What appeared in front of the car, then?' she asked.

'An angel. He claimed that he was havin' visions of me for some reason and he wanted to fight. But I won, though. But he seemed to be pretty ticked off... told me that he would kill me if we'd ever meet again. I have never met that lad in my entire life and yet he thought I was some threat.'

'Really? Are you serious? But... I thought angels had gone extinct.' Just like any other demon, Paige knew about the extension of her home realm, which happened nearly ten years ago; if she could apologize to the angels for the misery her kind had caused, she would do it. 'But I seriously hope you won't encounter him again.'

'Aye, he was a pretty strong lad, but I'm not afraid of him. I'll kick his arse back to the Angel Realm if I have to.'

'Don't be too confident, you. Before you know it, he might bring along more of his buddies.'

'Then I'll kick their arses as well. I'm not afraid of any angel, Paige.'

Paige let out a soft sigh and shook her head; she could feel a slight headache coming up. She sure hoped Finn wouldn't see that angel again anytime soon. 'So... what did Dolph have to say to you? Did he have some useful information?'

'Aye, he sure had. It was about that trailer park we saw on the news. Dolph and his buddies hadn't found any evidence, all the bodies were untouched. That already sounds like demon activity if ya ask me. But there was a witness who had seen someone drivin' away from the trailer park and here's the kicker; the lad had glowin' tattoos. Now ya tell me, Paige... does this sound like an ink demon or what?'

'Wait... you said that he was driving away from the trailer park... what kind of vehicle was he driving?'

'A motorcycle, I believe. Why? Do you know a demon who drives a motorcycle?'

Paige didn't say anything for a brief moment, but nodded. She knew damn well who Finn was talking about... and it made her feel anything but comfortable.

'His name is Baron Corbin.' she replied. 'I have known him when I lived in the Demon Realm. He was pretty much a lone wolf, crossing the realm on his motorcycle and reluctant about having company. He was always on his own. But that didn't mean he was a weak demon. I have seen him fighting, Finn. That bloke is merciless, brutal. He tears through his opponents with ease, I have seen it all at the annual Tournament. I have never been a competitor, always been a spectator. Baron is an absolute beast. I believe he had always wanted to kill his opponents in the most brutal ways possible. But I've never seen him advancing to the finals because he would always disappear, I guess the only reason why he entered the Tournament was to merely prove a point or something. That's how he had made quite a reputation for himself in the Demon Realm. I'm not sure if he had ever gone to the Mortal Realm though, but even then... I honestly can't help but wonder what he's planning to do here. But he's up to no good, I'm convinced about that. I can feel it in my bones.'

'We will find out soon about that.' Finn replied. 'I have a strong feelin' that the demons out there may know more about his intensions. And I'm going to the bottom of this.'

Finn was determined to find answers tonight. One way or another, he was going to find them.

* * *

When the sun had fully disappeared behind the horizon, Baron could feel his eyes slightly stinging with tiredness. That was a bad sign, he knew that. He had heard stories of humans who were foolish enough to fall asleep while driving, thus resulting them in crashing against another vehicle or a tree, turning themselves into a bloody pulp of flesh, broken bones and blood.

The ink demon found himself riding his motorcycle in a complete wasteland, it didn't look like he was going to reach civilization anytime soon. True, if he kept on driving he would, but night was about to fall, he could feel the temperature that had been so hot during the day quickly dropping and he had been driving for many hours straight, so he was forced to call it quits for today.

Finn Bálor should count himself lucky for Baron giving him one extra day to live.

The ink demon never had problems with sleeping next to the road during his journey through the Mortal Realm. He'd park his motorcycle on the side of the road, take off his sleeveless leather jacket, fold it into a make-shift pillow, make a little campfire for himself and off he went to sleep. He had done this many times, because hey, if you can't find a proper place to sleep, you had to do something. It wasn't always that pleasant, but he didn't care. Because Baron knew that when he would wake up the next morning, he would be one day closer to finding Finn Bálor and claiming his well-deserved throne in the Demon Realm.

But tonight it looked like Baron might finally sleep in a bed.

The ink demon spotted a big wooden building in the distance, decorated with bright red neon lights. Upon closer inspection, he saw a couple of Harley Davidsons parked outside the building, perfectly lined up. It was a biker bar, Baron quickly realized. It was the first building he had seen on this goddamn road, he wasn't convinced that he was going to find something better if he passed it, not even some lousy motel where he would probably be greeted by bed bugs, an unexplainable stench in the bathroom and the loud sex noises of his neighbors. No, Baron had done that once, and after that experience he would much rather spend the night on the side of the road, sleeping on the rocky ground. That goddamn couple in the room next to him were lucky that he was in a good mood that night, or else he would've made them scream for a whole different reason.

The biker bar looked like the best place to take a break from today.

'Lucky Thirteen...' Baron mumbled after parking his motorcycle, reading the bar's name that was written in a red neon light. The walls of the biker bar were adorned with neon lights in all shades of red, forming the figures of motorcycles and nude women; definitely Baron's kind of place.

Stepping inside the building, the ink demon hoped that Lucky Thirteen had some good booze to offer him.


	9. Mark My Words

**Chapter 9**

 **Mark My Words**

'Well... not as lively as I expected.' Baron mumbled to himself when he looked around.

When he entered Lucky Thirteen, he had thought that the biker bar would be brewing with life. The ever-present smell of alcohol, loud laughter from the bikers, the occasional shattering of a beer glass dropping to the wooden floor, rock music played by a local band on the stage, the impact of a fist hitting a face, a surprised exclamation of a woman being suddenly pulled onto some big biker's lap, all the things that made Baron enjoy visiting a biker bar. It was possibly the only kind of place in the Mortal Realm that he actually liked to visit, the atmosphere in those bars felt just right for him. But he never felt like talking to anyone when he was sitting there at the bar, sipping of his glass of beer and listening to the rock music that could be even heard when you were inside the bathroom stalls. Baron noticed that the bartender would often try to have a little meaningless conversation with him, but he wouldn't bother to reply to any of his questions. Wherever he was going and what his plans were after arriving on his destination were none of this guy's business. The bartender would almost immediately notice that, decide to forgo the attempted conversation and continue serving the roughneck customers.

Looking around the biker bar, Baron saw a large wooden bar with three planks behind it, filled with bottles of all kinds of alcoholic drinks; one glance at the bottles made the ink demon already thirsty for a good glass of beer. Numerous wooden tables and chairs were spread throughout the bar, giving every visitor a spot to sit at and a chair to smash each other's brain in if things got heated. A jukebox was seen in the far right corner of the biker bar, the neon lights bright and lively. A big round stage was build in the back, but there were no instruments on it. A pool table was put in the far left corner, just a few steps away from the bar. An ashtray was put on the edge of the pool table with a smoldering cigarette in it.

The interior of Lucky Thirteen looked nice if you'd ask the ink demon... but the main reason why it wasn't that lively was because all the visitors were dead.

Baron saw around ten lifeless bodies of bikers sprawled all over the floor, while a couple other bodies were still in the chairs with their upper bodies slumped over. The last things they must've done before their sudden deaths were playing poker and drinking whiskey, judging from the cards and the half-full glasses Baron saw on the tables. The ink demon quickly glanced behind the bar, only to find out that the barkeeper was one of the casualties. No blood could be found on the wooden floor; all the bodies seemed to be undamaged. Every normal human being would immediately run out screaming hysterically and call the police, but the sight of the numerous dead bodies didn't do anything to make Baron flinch. He was used to seeing corpses, mostly because he was the one who wouldn't hesitate to take somebody's life. Whether his victim would be a human or a demon, it didn't matter to him; once you had the nerve to piss Baron off, your life would be sure to end in the blink of an eye. Those stupid fuckers back at the gas station earlier today were the perfect examples of this.

A thumb strummed over the string of a guitar, producing a soothing note and breaking the silence in the biker bar. Baron looked up and immediately saw an all too familiar face, the person who was responsible for the deaths of the visitors of Lucky Thirteen. Only now he spotted the tall man on the stage, sitting on a barstool, tuning his guitar. He had dark hair, a neatly trimmed beard and was wearing a black and white checkered scarf, black t-shirt, a couple of necklaces, a pair of ripped black jeans and clean black shoes. Black and white scarves were bound around his wrists. Baron knew exactly who this guy was... because he too was a resident of the Demon Realm.

The demon with the guitar noticed the ink demon staring at him and grinned from ear to ear. 'I thought you would never notice me sitting here, old pal.' he said. 'You were staring around so much, I don't even think you saw me when you entered.'

'Elias, you son of a bitch!' Baron replied with a smile, something that could be rarely seen on his face. 'Back in the Mortal Realm again, aren't you, you damn drifter? What are you doing in a godforsaken shithole like this place?'

'And you are clearly pretty foul-mouthed as always, Baron. When was the last time your voice produced beautiful words instead of foul insults? But you know me... every place in this realm is my home. A free bird like me shouldn't be caged, it's against my nature. This bar is no exception. And these fine gentlemen here...' Elias gestured to the dead bodies. 'Their life forces tasted so sweet on my tongue. It would've been a shame if I had let them walk out and let them waste it. I couldn't be any more glad when they booked me to play for tonight. These men had the honor to listen to my music before I consumed their life forces. It took just less than one minute before they were all in trance. My guitar never fails to entrance those who listen to the music. A soothing song before you die... isn't that the kind of death everyone longs to?'

So it looked like the owner of Lucky Thirteen was foolish enough to let a music demon play at his bar; no wonder everyone was dead by the end of the day. Baron knew Elias as a fellow demon who roamed the Demon Realm, never staying at one place and always moving to a new destination. Like the drifter he was, the Mortal Realm was no exception, but when Elias decided to roam that realm, chances were that people were going to die under the influence of his magical guitar. As soon as they were entranced by the hypnotizing music he played, the music demon wouldn't waste any time to consume his victims' life forces. Baron didn't consider Elias as his friend, more like someone he could tolerate at most. He too was a loner, so he could relate himself to him in one way.

'Yeah, I suppose so...' Baron replied. 'Too bad they had to listen to your music before they died.'

'That doesn't sound very nice of you, Baron.'

'I'm not a nice person, you should know that.'

'Ah, how could I forget? Baron Corbin, the lone wolf of the Demon Realm... not a ray of sunshine could melt away the ice that encases you heart, it must feel so cold in your chest.'

'Whatever. Do you want a beer or something? I'm thinking of getting it myself, I don't think this poor fucker behind the bar isn't going to get it sooner or later.'

Elias couldn't help but chuckle at the dark joke. 'No, I don't want anything, thank you. You help yourself.'

'I will.' There was no way that he was going to drink a beer that has been already drank by one of the deceased visitors. Baron walked towards the bar and got behind it. He grabbed a clean glass and kicked away the dead bartender's leg, which was blocking his way. He filled the glass with fresh beer; the smell made the corners of his mouth twitch into a small smile.

'I honestly don't understand how you can drink that liquid garbage.' Elias said when the ink demon walked to the stage with the glass of beer in his hand, wrinkling his nose in disgust. 'It's so repulsive... how could you possibly enjoy drinking human drinks?'

Baron sat down on the edge of the stage and took a big sip from the glass of beer. The bitter but pleasant taste, mixed with the tingling alcohol, formed a cold, delightful sensation on his tongue; this is what he had longed for so much while riding in the heat, next to tracking down Finn Bálor.

'It's the only good thing about this damn realm, if you'd ask me.' the ink demon mumbled after swallowing down his beer, staring at his glass. 'This is the only drink here that doesn't make me want to vomit.'

'Hmm... this realm is indeed a mess.' Elias said with a thoughtful look in his olive green eyes. 'I have seen how violent humans can be. I wonder if it's in their nature, no, now that I think about it, I think this might very well be true. Humans aren't that much different from demons.'

The ink demon didn't respond to the music demon's philosophical rambling and took another sip from his beer; he didn't give a damn if this realm would be nearly just as violent as the Demon Realm, he didn't bother to think about that at all. No, he had more important things on his mind... like finding the Bastard Demon.

Elias glanced towards the entrance of the biker bar, as if he expected somebody to come in at any moment. But whoever he was expecting, that person didn't show up, which made the music demon wonder about something... this began to feel strange to him.

'Where's Eva Marie?' he asked.

'What?'

'Where is she? Didn't you leave the Demon Realm with her?'

The ink demon knew exactly what his 'friend' was talking about. When he traveled to the Mortal Realm to put his plan into action, he was accompanied by a succubus with bright red hair and full red lips who was more than willing to help her lover to accomplish his goal. Eva Marie... damn it, just when he had fully forgotten about that fucking bitch. He mentally cursed Elias for bringing up his ex-lover.

'Yeah. We did.' he grumbled.

'Then where is she?'

'Let's just say that we parted ways.' Baron replied curtly.

'Really? Well, that's a damn shame...' Elias ran a thumb over the strings of his guitar, producing a soothing tune. Closing his eyes for a moment, remembering how the red-haired succubus looked like. 'Ah yes, Eva Marie... a true beauty she was. Her hair and lips will always remind me of a freshly blossomed rose... I ought to write a song based on her. She would be a perfect muse...'

'You do whatever you want, pal. I'll have to admit, Eva Marie wasn't that skilled when it came to combat, but that mean streak of her... man, what a woman that succubus was. That's how she won me over.'

Baron had been a lone wolf for as long as he could remember, but when he crossed paths with Eva Marie, she had made him fall for her by showing that she could be the meanest bitch in the entire Demon Realm. Holy hell, she was so delightfully bitchy, so more vicious than the other female demons out there... for her, Baron made an exception; he allowed Eva Marie to become his lover. She knew about him wanting to find Finn Bálor and she supported him. That's why the ink demon allowed her to come with him to the Mortal Realm.

But it didn't last long before Baron went back to being a lone wolf again...

'So what happened then?' Elias asked. 'Where is she now?'

Baron shrugged. 'I don't know. And honestly, I don't really care where that bitch is. Probably walking at the side of the road or bawling her eyes out in a dirty bathroom stall of some godforsaken gas station, I guess. Let me tell you something, Elias. The first days we traveled through this country went... well, fine, I suppose. Since it's in a succubus' nature, Eva seduced men she met in bars and alleyways so she could eat their life force. I've seen her do it, I've seen it all how she sucked faces with those poor bastards before she killed them, but I didn't mind it back then; as long as she would do it for the life forces, then it would be fine with me. But as time went on... I saw her seducing men without taking their life forces.'

'Oh...'

'Now if there's one thing that you shouldn't do to me, Elias, is fucking around with some other guy behind my back. I had to teach her a lesson. Slapped her around a bit and I was sure that she would learn not to fuck with me. But now that I think about it, I think Eva had a whole different idea in her head...'

'What do you mean? What did she do?'

Baron took another big sip of his glass of beer before he continued to talk; all this talking about some bitch he used to be in a relationship with made him thirsty. 'A couple of days later, we were taking a break at this small town, I don't even remember the name of it. I was suddenly attacked by some guy who turned out to be a demon hunter, but he wasn't a professional. No, this fucker was a goddamn rookie. Of course he didn't stand a chance against me, that son of a bitch was lucky I didn't kill him on the spot. And here's the kicker; he suddenly blurts out that some lady with bright red hair had paid him quite some money to kill me. Now Elias, I want you to think about something. Who jumps into your mind when someone mentions a bitch with bright red hair? You tell me.'

'Eva Marie, of course.' The music demon could feel a mild shiver run over his spine. That succubus had made a huge mistake by bribing a rookie demon hunter to take someone like Baron out. 'Then what happened?'

'At first I considered to kill her, of course. But then I changed my mind and decided to do something to her that's much, much, much worse than death. Let's just say that I made it a lot harder for Eva to seduce men. From that moment on, I traveled alone... and I let that stupid bitch rot on the side of the road.'

Elias could see Baron's eyes growing darker when he finished his story. Baron's eyes were nearly black of their own, but when he mentioned what he had done to Eva Marie, his irises had grown pitch black; the music demon didn't have enough courage to ask Baron what exactly he had done to his ex-lover. Whatever it was, it wasn't good, that was for sure. But at one side, Elias thought Eva had been a fool by trying to let a dangerous ink demon like Baron get killed. Such a beauty... but what a fool she was.

'So why are you here in the Mortal Realm in the first place?' the music demon asked after a brief silence between the two demons. 'I thought you were never interested in visiting this place.'

'True, but I've got big plans.' Baron took another gulp of his beer, but this time it was smaller. 'Have you ever heard of Finn Bálor, the Bastard Demon? That demon hunter?'

Elias chuckled and nodded. 'Oh yes, I have heard of him alright. He may be a bastard, but I've heard many stories about his strength... Rumors has it that he's one of the most powerful demons out there. But not only that, though. I've heard that he's living in Levesque City, a lot of demons have spotted him there. It's not too far away from here, so you're on the right way. But what do you want from someone like him?'

'I know how powerful he is, Elias... that's why I want his blood as ink for my tattoos. If I succeed in that, I will be the most dominant demon the Demon Realm has ever known.' Just by thinking about made a smug smile spread across the ink demon's face. 'The other demons will tremble when they cross paths with me. One for one, I will make them fall. I shall prove that I am the most powerful and dominant demon there is. No other demon could be compared to me, not even the legendary Undertaker. I have absorbed enough blood and consumed enough life forces to be a match to that son of a bitch. Hell, I have consumed the life forces of the residents of an entire trailer park. That place was literally radiating with the color of bitterness. Light blue... I saw that aura in all of their chests. It was so easy. Almost all of them were asleep. I just had to turn into a puddle of ink, slide underneath the doors of their trailers and their life forces were all mine. Those bitter, unemployed bastards didn't stand a chance.'

'Ah... so it was you, then.' A chuckle escaped past Elias' lips.

'What's so funny?' Baron asked.

'You are so sure of yourself...' the music demon spoke. 'But how can you be so sure that you can take on Finn Bálor? An entire trailer park could not be enough, you know. Don't let your ego overshadow your judgment, Baron. Many demons have made that mistake when they tried to defeat the Bastard Demon... and they all lost. You could never do this alone, Baron.'

'Don't you dare to doubt me, Elias.' Baron growled. 'I am not like those other idiots. I know that I'm strong enough. How about I show it to you?'

'Hmm... I don't see why not.'

'Good.'

Little did Elias know that he had made the biggest mistake of his life by agreeing to fight with Baron.

The ink demon carelessly threw away his nearly-empty glass of beer, shattering into many tiny pieces when it hit the wooden floor. Just as he wanted to get up and charge towards the music demon, Elias had already gotten up from his seat and quickly grabbed Baron by the neck, firmly squeezing as he wrapped his fingers around it. Elias may have been slightly smaller than Baron, but that didn't mean that he was less stronger than him. Baron grunted and briefly clawed at his hand, which had started to cut off the oxygen. But the music demon wasn't planning on choking him. Instead of that, he threw Baron off the stage with all the strength he had, sending him flying into a table which immediately broke in two upon impact. The ink demon could feel tiny pieces of wood pricking into his skin, but completely ignored it.

'Too slow! I told you that you were not ready yet, Baron!' Elias exclaimed with a smug grin on his face. 'You are no match for Finn!'

But Baron wasn't planning on proving Elias right. 'No... you're wrong about that.'

The music demon had no idea that Baron had summoned a large pool of black ink, mixed with streaks of red and blue, right behind him. As if the pool of ink had a life of its own, it attacked Elias from behind like some sort of wave. But instead of washing over him, the demonic ink ensnared the music demon's arms, legs and waist, immediately freezing upon contact with the skin. Elias was trapped in a wave of crystallized ink with nowhere to go, no matter how hard he tried to break free from his restrains. He could feel his heart beating in his head as he realized that escape was impossible. Elias still tried to escape when he watched Baron approaching him, his eyes growing wider and wider with fear. Baron stepped onto the stage with the most sinister smile he had ever seen.

'I think you don't have to use that anymore.' the ink demon said, grabbing Elias' guitar, which he was still holding in his clenched fist. Without any warning, Baron slammed the guitar against Elias' head, earning a grunt of pain from him. The wood splintered upon impact, some tiny pieces cut the music demon's face. There was now little of the guitar left, only the neck; the thick strings were curled and a few small pieces of wood were dangling from the bottom of the neck.

'You shouldn't have doubted me, Elias.' Baron calmly spoke. 'Looks like I have proven you wrong. Mark my words, you fucker. I am going to be the most dominant demon in the Demon Realm, one way or the other.' He raised the guitar's neck in the air, ready for delivering the final blow. Elias immediately realized what was coming to him. 'I guess I've proven my point now. It's been fun, pal.'

And then Baron drove the neck into Elias' head with full force. The sound of a breaking skull echoed through the biker bar, along with the sound of brains turning into mush. Taking a few steps back, Baron watched as Elias' body twitched a couple of times before it fully died. The ink demon snapped his fingers and the frozen wave of ink that had ensnared Elias liquefied and disappeared without leaving a single stain, dropping the music demon's dead body to the floor.

Baron's point had been proven.

Staring at the blood dripping from his newest victim's head, the ink demon decided that he would absorb it later on. Without feeling anything that came close to remorse, he walked towards the bar and filled up a new glass with beer for himself. With a fresh glass of beer in his hand, he leaned against the bar and looked around while occasionally taking a sip. Normally he would never remember the last words of his victims, but there was something that Elias had said that stuck with him.

 _'You could never do this alone, Baron.'_

Was Finn Bálor really that powerful? Baron always had the strong feeling that he could defeat the Bastard Demon, but now, for the first time during his journey in the Mortal Realm, he felt something that felt like... doubt. He knew that he shouldn't rush his attack, that would be a foolish mistake. He had to think of a strategic plan, but he had never really thought of the perfect plan.

Could a little back-up be useful to him? Like... some kind of shield that could take most of the damage for him? But where could he find someone who would be willing to help him with fighting Finn Bálor? Baron assumed that he couldn't rely on his fellow demons for help, no, they would probably cower away if he would explain the plan to them. Then who would be willing to help him?

The ink demon walked towards the entrance of the biker bar, where a small sign with the words 'open' and 'closed' were printed on the sides. He turned the sign around, so that the word 'closed' could be read. Lucky Thirteen would act like a good hideout for now... and thanks to Elias, Baron finally had a good clue of where his target could be.

He still had the whole night left to wonder about who would be willing to be his 'shield'.


	10. Answers

**Chapter 10**

 **Answers**

'Hey Paige, I think ya made quite an accomplishment here.' Finn said after he ate the last piece of fresh lasagna that the female demon had cooked for him. 'I ought to give ya a big golden medal.'

Paige, who was washing a few pans in the kitchen sink, couldn't help but smile at the friendly remark. She turned around, looked at the demon hunter and cocked her eyebrow. 'Oh, really?' she asked. 'What for, may I ask? Is my food really that good? Well, that must be the case, you have never given me a compliment like that before.' Paige had never thought that her cooking skills would improve to the point that Finn was willing to reward her for it, much to her amusement.

'Aye, ye're right, it is about yer food.' A small, playful smile could be seen on Finn's face when he pointed his fork at the female demon. 'This is the tenth time in a row that ya didn't burn my dinner. And for that, I think ya deserve a medal. Ya should be proud of that.'

Paige managed to cover her mouth with her hand just in time before she could burst into laughter. With twinkling eyes, she smiled and nodded. 'Oh yeah, that would be bloody wonderful. A big medal that says 'Didn't burn the food for the tenth time in a row'. I'll wear it all the time, even during work. I bet the customers will love it.'

'Trust me, they'll think that medal will look great on you.'

'Or they'll think you've finally gone batshit insane.'

The female demon chuckled and turned around, planning on continuing washing the dirty dishes. 'It's most likely they will think that.' she replied. While she scrubbed the caked meat off the pan, she softly chuckled once more. This was so crazy, now that she thought about it. Who knew she could feel so many emotions for the person who was supposed to be her natural enemy? Relief, anger, joy, concern, annoyance... A few hours ago she was so mad at him for crashing her car that she was on the verge of blowing her own store up with her demonic powers, now she was laughing about his joking compliment like nothing had happened. But of course Paige was glad that Finn was alright; after all, she cared more about him than a car. She sure hoped that the demon hunter would never encounter that angel again... but she couldn't shake off the feeling that he was encounter Baron sooner or later. Paige knew how Finn was; if he would find a lead in a case, he was going to the bottom of it. Did he even realize how ruthless Baron actually was? Paige tried to stop it, but the mental image of Baron ripping Finn to pieces, the way he preferred to kill his victims, was faster than her and flashed through her mind in the blink of an eye. Goosebumps appeared on her pale arms. What the hell was Baron even doing here in the Mortal Realm?

'So what is your plan?' Paige asked while rinsing the dish soap off the pan. 'How are you planning on finding Baron?'

'I've thought about it.' Finn replied. 'I'm going out tonight to find some answers. I'm pretty sure that there are demons out there who may know what Baron's up to.'

'Hmm.' Paige nodded, turned off the tap, put the wet pan on the kitchen counter and sat down at the dinner table across from Finn. 'You have a point in that. I think that chance might be big.' You had to think of the amount of demons in Levesque City as some sort of small community; everyone knew something about each other, so maybe there would be a demon out there who knew about Baron's plan, or at least some details of it. Any detail, whether it would be big or small, could be useful.

'Do you want to come with me?' Finn asked.

Paige shook her head. 'I can't, remember? If they see me with you, they won't only hurt you, but me as well. Hell, I think they're going to hurt me even worse than you.'

'Oh damn, you're right...' Finn mumbled. He felt like such an idiot for forgetting that one thing that the female demon feared for the most. 'Sorry about that.'

But Paige didn't reply for a little moment, staring at the table leaf as if she was lost in her thoughts. Then she suddenly looked up. 'But I can come along with you, as long as they don't recognize me.' she said. 'I can transform into an animal, like a cat or a crow. Maybe a crow, I think I still have a crow's feather in by backroom. I can keep an eye on you like that. As long as I keep my distance, nothing can go wrong. What do you say?'

Finn thought about it. It didn't sound like a bad idea at all, the demons wouldn't expect a crow to be a demon witch in disguise if she kept a safe distance. Unless they would sense an aura around her if she got too close, everything would be fine. And Paige was everything but dumb; she would know how far she would have to stay away and keep an eye on the demon hunter at the same time.

He nodded. 'Alright then.'

'Good. So we have a plan then.'

'Aye. Let's not waste any more time. Let's go.'

'You're right. Give me a moment, I'll go get that feather.'

* * *

After Paige unlocked the backdoor of The Pentagram, she briefly stuck her head through the doorway and quickly looked around to see if anyone was in the alley. Luckily there was nobody there, no demon nor human, which pleased the demon witch very much. There was nobody to see her transform into a crow or see her sneak out with a notorious demon hunter. She glanced to the sky, which had colored in a deep shade of dark grey; looks like they were going to get a rainstorm tonight. Paige twirled the big, black crow feather between her thumb and index finger and stared at it for a brief moment. It had been quite a while since she had transformed into an animal, she just hoped she wouldn't waste this one last feather and successfully transform. The female demon looked over her shoulder, looking at Finn who was standing behind her.

'It's clear, come on.'

The two stepped outside and Paige locked the backdoor. She held the crow feather in front of her nose, closed her eyes and slowly breathed out through her slightly parted lips, focusing on her powers. The female demon whispered a spell in an ancient language that had been long forgotten in the Demon Realm. Finn watched as the feather seemed to float on its own; the magic seemed to start to work. Then a bright, purple glow fully engulfed Paige, covering each part of her body. The shape of her body began to morph into a different shape, shrinking and growing a pair of wings and a beak. Two talons grew along with them. The purple glow faded away, revealing Paige's new form; she had transformed into a big crow, her feathers black as the night and small black eyes that nearly resembled small gems. Finn couldn't help but be amazed by the transformation, he had never seen his landlady doing this before. Crow Paige let out a caw and fluttered her wings to stay in the air. She flew to the rooftop of The Pentagram and for a brief moment, it looked like she was giving the demon hunter a little nod.

Time to head out.

Knowing that Paige was right behind him and keeping a watchful eye on him, Finn ventured through the dark alleyways, managing to avoid trashcans and trash bags despite the darkness that seemed to deepen more and more as time went by. He had been in these alleyways so many times by now, this obviously wasn't the first time he had walked through these narrow passages. But that didn't mean that the demon hunter was allowed to feel safe while venturing through the shadows. Every demon hunter knew that danger could be lurking in the shadows, ready to strike and kill you as soon as you got close enough. And Finn was pretty damn sure that there were demons in this city who would be willing to hide in the shadows of any goddamn alley and wait for an eternity for him pass them by, so they could attack him and kill him on the spot. Remembering that, Finn clenched his fingers around the grip of his pistol in his pocket.

He was more than ready to put a rock salt bullet through a demon's head if it dared to attack him; but not before he would try to squeeze some answers about Baron's plans out of them. There had to be one or two demons out there who would know about this, it just had to be! Finn was convinced about that. He wouldn't return to The Pentagram unless he would get some answers tonight.

It was like most of the residents of Levesque City had watched the weather forecast this evening, because he saw that the streets were nearly empty. When he exited the shadowy alleyways and crossed the street, Finn saw a young couple walking down the streets, possibly heading towards the bars or clubs that were located in the center of the city, holding each others' hands; he could even hear the girl giggle out loud.

He ignored the pain that was welling up in his heart and reached the other side of the street. The demon hunter faintly heard the sounds of flapping wings right behind him, Paige was thankfully still close. He entered another alleyway, hoping that he could find a demon here. The skies were turning darker and it wouldn't last long before the first raindrops would fall.

'No, please... stay away from me!' an old man's distressed voice could be heard whimpering in the distance. There was no doubt about it; someone needed Finn's help, right now.

The demon hunter ran into the direction of where the voice was coming from. Getting closer and closer, he could hear that more fear was added to the old man's voice, as if he was about to lose his life... which was probably the case. Turning around the corner, Finn noticed that the man had fallen silent and he could clearly see why. The voice belonged to a homeless man, dressed in a thick, worn-down winter jacket, torn jeans and dirt-stained shoes. He was completely powerless as a young woman with bright red hair, of which a thick lock of hair covered the right side of her face, forced his mouth open and sucked out a strange, thick, blue mist out of him, consuming it. His life force, Finn realized in the blink of an eye. There was no way in hell that she was a normal human being; this was a demon.

'Hey!' Finn shouted, pulling out his pistol. 'Let go of him!'

But it was already too late for the homeless man; as soon as the female demon let go of his jaw, his lifeless body slumped to his side, dropping dead to the ground. Finn could see the female demon quickly pulling something that resembled a surgical mask over her mouth and she ran away from him as fast as she could. But there was no way that Finn was going to let her get away. He immediately started the chase, following her through the shadowy alleyway. The red-haired demon was just a few meters away from him, but the demon hunter could clearly hear her ragged breathing. He was faster than her, just a little more and he would be able to catch her. The female demon must've realized that, because her breathing now had something panicky. They reached a T-shaped end and she turned left, quickly grabbed a trashcan and pulled it to the ground, blocking the path and causing the content to spill out. Rotten pieces of food, cans and pizza boxes rolled onto the ground. She was trying to slow him down, Finn realized. Before his foot could touch one of the pieces of trash, he swiftly jumped over the trash can and continued to run after her. The female demon briefly looked over her shoulder and let out a horrified shriek, realizing that her plan had failed. Much to his surprise, Finn saw that she was suddenly running much slower; he could swear that he heard her panting. Was she tired already? But how? She had just consumed a life force... But there was no time to wonder about that. Within less than three seconds, Finn had gotten close enough to her to reach her and tackled her to the ground with full force. The red-haired demon let out a pained grunt when she hit the ground with a painful thud. Finn turned her around on her back, facing her. A thin surgical mask covered her mouth, while a lock of hair still covered the right side of her face. A glimpse of panic was lingering the red-haired demon's visible left eye, but when she blinked them it had disappeared, as if she had just realized that there was still a chance of escape.

'You wouldn't hurt me, would you?' she spoke with the most seductive and hypnotizing voice the demon hunter had ever heard. 'I am the woman you have always dreamed of, darling. Let me go and I shall make all your desires come true. I will be the love of your life. You wouldn't want any other woman than me...'

Oh fuck... she was a succubus, Finn realized; but from the very first moment she had started speaking, he could feel his head growing lighter and lighter, as if he was being sucked into a deep trance. It felt so peaceful for a moment, it was just this seductive, feminine voice and nothing else. Finn was on the verge on giving into the trance, but then quickly remembered his training. If he would fall for a succubus' spell, it would be the end of him! He had to snap out of this, fast! There was a way to escape from this trance, he had learned this from his training. While the voice slowly took over his entire world, the demon hunter closed his eyes and focused on something in his mind with all the mental power he had. He formed a clear image in his head, an image on which he would always hold onto, no matter how old he would become.

It was the face of the woman he would always cherish. She had long red hair, olive green eyes and the friendliest smile he had ever seen. God, that mental image looked so real, he could swear he could burst into tears. But the image was there, he had to focus on it and block out the voice. He concentrated as hard as he could and found a way to silence the seductive voice that was trying to pull him.

'Becky... Becky... Becky...' Finn whispered to himself. Chanting that name worked perfectly, it almost instantly blocked out the voice and drove it out of his mind.

That's when Finn snapped out of the trance. He opened his eyes and glared at the succubus, who immediately realized that her last attempt to escape had failed. Her eye grew wide with horror when the demon hunter grabbed her hair and slammed the back of her head against the ground for three times.

'It's over, ya bitch!' he growled. 'Now what are ya hidin' underneath that mask?' He grabbed the surgical mask and ripped it off her face with one swift pull.

Finn's heart skipped a beat in shock when he lied eyes upon her mouth.

A large, wide, deep, open, dark red cut had diagonally sliced her mouth open, cutting through her lips and exposing her gums and most of her teeth. The lock of hair that had been covering a part of her face had slipped away and revealed her grotesque eye, the eyelids removed and the sclera colored light red. Finn couldn't help but be shocked by the succubus' horribly mutilated face and she could clearly sense it.

'Goddamn you!' she hissed angrily, barely understandable due to her mutilated mouth.

Finn suddenly heard the sound of flapping wings behind him, followed by a thud. Briefly looking over his shoulder, he saw that Paige had transformed back into her human form. The demon witch quickly looked around her to see if nobody was there, then walked towards Finn and the disfigured succubus with a worried look on her face.

'Holy hell... Eva Marie, is that you?' Paige asked, kneeling down next to her. 'What the bloody hell happened to you?'

'Do ya know her?' Finn asked in mild surprise, still holding the succubus down with all his strength.

'Yeah, she's Baron's lover. What is she doing here? Good God... who has done that to you, Eva?'

'Paige...' Eva Marie looked away, her face turned into a wry mask of shame. 'Baron...' she mumbled. 'It... it was him! He has done this to my face!'

Paige knew that Baron was one vicious son of a bitch, but mutilating his own lover... she hadn't expected that he was ruthless enough to do that. She must have done something to piss him off big time, the demon witch realized. Whatever it was, it looked like Baron did not only want to hurt Eva Marie... but he also wanted to humiliate her.

'That motherfucker cut my face and left me to rot on the side of the road!' Eva hissed through her teeth, spitting out little droplets of spit; it surprised both Finn and Paige that they were able to understand each word she was saying despite the fact that her mouth was sliced open. 'He wanted me to starve! Each man that wanted to give me a ride drove off as soon as they saw my face! No man would ever fall for a face like this, Baron knew that! I've heard that in Levesque City there were a lot of demons, so I assumed that Baron was there too... I want to make that fucker pay for what he has done to me! He has ruined me! It took me a few days, but I'm here... and I will fucking murder him as soon as I find him. I will... I will...'

Eva's ranting was abruptly interrupted by a loud coughing fit. Only now Finn saw how weak the broken succubus actually was; her skin was pale and she had dark circles under her eyes. He knew that succubi heavily relied on their beauty to reel in men and consume their life force; they needed that life force to survive. But thanks to Baron she was slowly starving to death. God knows when the last time was where she consumed a life force, now wonder she was so weak. One life force would never be enough to refuel a weakened demon's strength.

'Eva, calm down for a moment and listen to me.' Assuming that she would be too weak to run away, the demon hunter decided to let go of her. His assumption was proven right; the mutilated succubus sat up and didn't show any signs of planning to run away again. And even if she tried to flee again, Finn would catch her with ease. 'We need to know somethin' very important, okay? Ya are... well, were Baron's lover. Did ya leave the Demon Realm along with him?'

Eva Marie silently nodded.

'Did he tell ya about what he's plannin' to do here? Why is he here? What is he up to? Tell me, Eva.'

'He... He told me that he wanted to find a half-demon called Finn Bálor. As soon as he would get a hold of his blood, he would use it as ink for his tattoos and become the strongest demon in the Demon Realm... that's all I remember.'

Finn's heart was not the only one that had just skipped a beat. Up until now, Paige had no idea why Baron would want to roam the Mortal Realm... but now it was perfectly clear why. They have finally found the answers they were looking for. Goosebumps appeared all over her arms, but at the same time, an important realization struck her. She scooted closer to Finn.

'Finn, I know what might be going through your head now, but don't kill her.' she said with a hushed tone in her voice. 'Right now, Eva's our best chance to get to Baron and stop him. We can take her back to my place, I can heal her back to health! She's our only lead, Finn. I will make sure she won't-'

Both of them didn't notice the thin, green, horizontal line that suddenly appeared on Eva's body; it took a single muffled bang to interrupt the conversation. Where the hell did that come from? It sounded so close, as if the shooter was... right behind them. Finn heard Paige letting out a startled gasp and saw that she was looking at Eva. His eyes grew slightly wider with shock when he saw why she gasped.

Eva was lying on the ground with a tiny hole in her forehead, her eyes wide and staring at the dark grey sky; blood emerged from the hole trickled down her left temple. Their only lead had been killed with one single shot to the head.

'What the fuck?!' Finn hissed, both in surprise and anger.

'Hmm, let's see if a mutilated succubus is just as much worth as a living one...' an unfamiliar voice with a Spanish accent mumbled behind them.

Looking behind them, Finn and Paige saw a tall man with tanned skin, short black hair and wearing a white blouse, black trousers and neatly polished black leather shoes, looking at a square-shaped device he was holding in his hand. A pistol could be seen in his other hand; fresh smoke was trickling from the muzzle. The corners of his mouth curled into a smug grin, exposing her bright white teeth.

' _Buena tarde_.' the man said. 'My apologies for not properly introducing myself. My name is Alberto Del Rio, professional demon hunter and proud member of the Legion Of Hunters. Pleased to meet you.'


	11. Blinding Greed

**Chapter 11**

 **Blinding Greed**

That fucking bastard had just shot her like she was nothing... Paige's head almost felt like spinning with anger. She could've saved Eva, she could've convinced her to side with her and Finn, but it was all swept away with a single rock salt bullet to her mutilated head. Fuck, ending like this after all the shit she had been through, all for some goddamn bounty... this was unfair, so fucking unfair! There wasn't any kind of death that was more degrading than this!

'You son of a bitch!' Paige shouted at Alberto. From the corner of his eyes, Finn saw the demon witch's eyes light up with a dark blue glow. He scooted away a little bit, knowing that his companion was about to release her powers in an explosion of anger. 'She didn't do anything to you! You filthy bastard!'

'Oh my, you got quite a mouth, don't you?' Alberto replied with that same smug grin. 'Here, allow me to teach you some manners.'

And before Finn or Paige could react, the corrupted demon hunter aimed his pistol at the demon witch and fired a shot. The bullet pierced right into her upper thigh, two and a half centimeters above her right knee. Paige slammed her eyes shut and let out a loud wail of pain when she felt the bullet ripping through her flesh. Warm blood ran down her upper leg, staining her pale skin and dripping on the ground. Paige fell on her side and pressed her hands against her wounds in an attempt to stop the bleeding. A sick feeling crept up in her stomach when she felt her blood trickling through her fingers, oh God, this was really happening, so much pain, that familiar smell of blood that reminded her of iron... was she going to die right here, in this goddamn alley? The demon witch tried to suppress another scream by clenching her teeth, but she miserably failed; she expressed her pain loud and clearly.

'Paige!' Finn exclaimed. He quickly crawled over to her and put extra pressure on the wound by pressing his hands on hers; he could feel the warm blood on her hands, it made goose bumps appear over his arms. The demon hunter had never felt his head pounding this much. His eyes were burning with rage and hate when he glared at Alberto, it was a damn miracle that he didn't launch himself at his throat this instant.

'Ya fucker!' Finn spat at him. 'Ya will pay for this!'

'Now now, no need for those harsh words, _amigo_.' the corrupted demon hunter replied, unmoved by any of the insults that were thrown at his head. 'This bratty _perra_ had to be put on her place, if she can't be quiet we can't have a proper conversation, now can we? Anyway, like I said, the name is Alberto Del Rio. I'm a professional demon hunter and I'm associated with the Legion Of Hunters, the most exclusive international club of demon hunters in the world. Have you ever heard of this club?'

Refusing to soften his glare for a second, Finn slowly nodded. Oh yes, he knew exactly what the Legion Of Hunters was... and they were everything but good people. 'Yeah...' he hissed. 'I know who you scumbags are.'

Alberto softly chuckled. 'I wouldn't consider ourselves scumbags. We are proper, professional, good-hearted people who take great pride in eliminating those vicious, revolting _demonios_ who threaten our realm. But we expect to be rewarded for it. Something to make the job worthwhile, you know? That's why, depending on the species of demons we encounter, we will be ensured that we will be paid generously by the big boss. There's a price on every demon's head. Sure, demons can be caught alive, but I prefer to kill them.' The smug smile that seemed to be plastered onto Alberto's face suddenly had something sinister. 'Saves me a lot of trouble, plus they won't fight back. Looks like by the end of the night-'

'Spare me the bullshite already, Alberto. Ya make my ears ache.' Finn growled. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Paige had opened her eyes and they were now glowing with that same dark blue light, only for her to shut them again and let out a groan when she felt another sharp, painful sting in her leg. Dark blue energy was flickering around her fists, but it disappeared as soon as she shut her eyes. She was trying to fight back, Finn realized. She wanted to blow that fucker's head off, dissolve his bowels into a bloody mush, shatter his legs into pieces, anything to kill him out so that they could escape, but the rock salt had weakened her too much. A pool of blood had formed on the ground and it was growing bigger by the second.

'Ya bastards of the Legion Of Hunters know nothin' about a demon hunter's honor. A true professional demon hunter knows the difference between a malevolent demon and a benevolent demon, he shall never slay a demon if it doesn't mean any harm. He shall never ask for money for each kill, because he doesn't kill for profit, but for the safety of humanity. That is the honor of a true demon hunter... but ya greedy scumbags will never understand that. Ya don't deserve that honor.'

The corners of the corrupted demon hunter's mouth that formed his smug grin lowered a bit, turning into a grimace. He glanced at the screen of his device. Whatever he saw on the screen, it made the grimace revert back into a grin. Alberto softly chuckled.

'Look at you... you should be the one who doesn't deserve that precious honor you spineless demon hunters are so damn proud of. Since when do freaks like you have grown such a big ego that they think they have the right to call themselves demon hunters? Ha, you thought that I didn't know, _amigo_? I know all about you... _Demonio Bastardo_.'

Alberto showed the screen of the square-shaped device he was holding in his hand, which nearly resembled a cell phone. Staring attentively at the screen, Finn saw that 'Half Demon' could be read at the top of the screen, along with a few lines of text on the middle of the screen, possibly information. He could only clearly read the last line.

 _Known Half Demon: Finn Bálor - Demon Hunter._

Numbers were seen on the bottom of the screen. Finn quickly realized that the numbers represented the price; ten million dollars.

'So you must be Finn Bálor, the Bastard Demon.' Alberto said. 'You have made quite a name for yourself at the Legion Of Hunters, _señor_ Bálor. I have heard stories of a demon hunter with demon blood in his veins. At first I didn't believe too much of it, but now that I have ran a little scan on you and seen you with my own eyes... I think I'll be going to sleep tonight with more than ten million dollars after I'm done with killing you and that pale _perra._ A succubus, a demon witch and a half demon... it must be my lucky night!It amuses me that you didn't even notice that I was scanning you while you were rambling about the honor you don't deserve. Now step aside so I can put a bullet through that wench's head.'

That greedy son of a bitch... Finn could feel the rage flaring up inside him, along with the dark energy that had been hiding inside him for as long as he could remember. There was no way in hell he was going to let this bastard kill his friend, he swore to God he would tear his limbs off one by one if he'd even dare to aim his pistol at her. The demon hunter stood up, ready to unleash the pulsing energy that was traveling through every vein in his body.

'Over my dead body.' Finn growled through his clenched teeth.

'Fine then. Over your dead body it is, you monster.'

Without any warning, Alberto aimed his pistol at Finn and fired. But from the second he saw the pistol aimed at him, the demon hunter knew what was coming and ducked away just in time before the bullet could hit him, piercing into a brick wall somewhere in the distance. Grit emerged from the tiny hole, along with small pieces of brick. From the corner of his eye, Finn spotted a trash can and immediately grabbed his chance. He darted to the trash can as fast as he could and lifted it over his head, unmoved by the heavy weight; the adrenaline fueled the energy that was now pulsing so intensely that it became nearly painful. The lid fell off, allowing some pieces of trash to fall out. Finn hurled the trash can at Alberto just as he was about to fire off his fourth bullet, striking him in the stomach. The corrupted demon hunter briefly stumbled and dropped his scanning machine, but managed not to fall over. Just this little moment of vulnerability was enough for Finn to launch his second attack. Allowing his dark powers to flow to his arms, the demon hunter charged at Alberto with his fists clenched, ready to hit him as soon as he would reach him. The energy transformed his hands into razor sharp claws, the skin colored pitch-black and the thick, visible veins red. But just before Finn's fist could connect to Alberto's face, the corrupted demon hunter grabbed the wrist and clenched it with a surprising amount of strength; the grip was so strong that Finn could hear the little bones in his wrist snap.

'You fucking freak.' Alberto hissed before head-butting Finn, making the world around him violently tremble. He didn't waste any time and grabbed the back of Finn's neck, forcing him to bend forward. A knee was launched into the demon hunter's face, causing a numbing pain to spread throughout his entire face. Alberto then grabbed into Finn's hair and threw him to the ground. Briefly looking down, he saw that his jeans were stained with blood.

'Look at what you've done. You got your repulsive mongrel blood all over my jeans, you _abominación_!' Alberto exclaimed in disgust. He kicked the demon hunter's chest, nearly enough to splinter his ribcage. A strangled scream of pain escaped from Finn's throat. Now that he had found out the most effective way to hurt his opponent, the corrupted demon hunter started to kick him in his chest and stomach as hard as he could, grinning from ear to ear as he did so.

'You really think that you are one of us?' Alberto said mockingly. 'No way in hell the demon hunter community will accept you! You're nothing but a freak who should've never been born! Abomination! Freak! _Monstruo_! I will do everybody a huge favor by killing you! You will never be one of us, because you are not human!'

Just when Alberto wanted to launch another kick to his stomach, something grabbed his ankle and made him lose his balance. The corrupted demon hunter fell to the ground and felt sharp fingernails piercing through the material of his jeans and into the skin of his ankle. Droplets of blood stained the ruined material.

Looking up, Alberto's stomach sank to his feet.

He could swear to God that a monster was staring back at him. His claws sank deeper into his ankle, causing more pain and more blood to spill out, but the corrupted demon hunter didn't feel it due to the paralyzing fear. Finn seemed to be blind, because his eyes had turned completely white. Thick cracks of black had appeared around his jaw line. The blood mixed with the cracks reminded Alberto of a terrifying mask.

'No...' Finn growled with a low, nearly inhuman voice. 'Ye're the one who is not human.'

His inner demon was coming out, he felt it, he heard it. There was this strange rumbling noise inside Finn's head that made him think that those were the muffled screams of the damned souls in Hell, he couldn't hear anything else. The noise made him desire blood, he wanted to destroy, to tear something to pieces... to kill.

Alberto was going to pay the price for taunting him.

Dear God in Heaven, he was going to murder him. The realization made the paralyzing fear fade away and return the sensation back into his legs. Alberto ripped himself free from the 'monster's' grip, tearing open the skin of his ankle in the process. Despite the burning pain and the sensation of warm blood soaking his sock, the corrupted demon hunter managed to get up. He aimed his pistol at Finn, but his hand seemed to be trembling.

'Like hell ya will.'

Just before Alberto could pull the trigger, Finn launched at him with an incredible speed and grabbed the barrel of the pistol, crushing it in his fist like it was made of aluminum foil. The corrupted demon hunter widened his eyes and couldn't hold back a scream of horror, which was cut short when the 'monster' grabbed his throat. Razor sharp fingernails dug into his neck, causing blood to trickle down his skin. Finn swung Alberto around in a 90 degrees turn and slammed the back of his head against the brick wall multiple times until cracks appeared on the bricks. The corrupted demon hunter's consisted only of black spots clouding his vision and a vicious pain filling his head, he was convinced that his skull must've cracked. The only sounds he could produce were soft groans and whimpers as his head felt numb from the pain. He weakly clawed at the claw in a pathetic attempt to escape, but it was useless. He caught a glimpse of Finn's face between the black spots; his face looked even more horrifying from up close. He was completely powerless in his suffocating grip. This was it; he was going to kill him. Alberto widened his eyes as his breathing grew hoarse and panicked.

This fucker was going to pay for hurting Paige. Punishing him was the only thing that was on Finn's darkened mind. Just one firm squeeze and he would snap his neck like a twig, one punch and he would demolish his face, this piece of shit didn't deserve to live. Finn was more than ready to deliver the finishing blow.

A familiar voice whimpering in pain maneuvered its way through the noise and darkness, reaching into his mind.

Paige...

Upon recognizing her voice, Finn turned his head and looked away from his battered opponent. Paige was still lying on the ground, pressing her bloody hands against the wound on her leg. He could see the despair on her face, he knew she was thinking that she was going to die. No... he wasn't going to allow her to bleed to death in a dark alley. The noise inside Finn's head decreased more and more until it was completely silent. The will to tear Alberto to pieces disappeared far into the background.

The wellbeing of a close friend mattered more to Finn than the death of a greedy scumbag like Alberto.

He promptly let go of the corrupted demon hunter's throat, dropping him to the ground. Alberto loudly gasped for air, his throat feeling like it was on fire. His eyes were still wide when he watched the black cracks on Finn's face disappearing and his eyes reverting back to normal. As soon as Finn had fully transformed back into his normal form, he glared at his beaten opponent; those blue-grey eyes seemed to pierce right through his soul.

'Get outta here.' Finn hissed. 'And don't even think of followin' us.'

He wasn't worth another second of his time. Finn turned around and walked towards Paige. He lifted her up in his arms, carrying her like a knight would carry a maiden.

'Finn...' the injured demon witch groaned.

'Come on Paige, let's go.'

Finn didn't bother to even glance at Alberto when he ran him by, carrying Paige in his arms. The fear of his friend bleeding to death before they could reach The Pentagram drove him to run as fast as he could.


	12. Inner Demons

**Chapter 12**

 **Inner Demons**

As soon as he heard the lock opening with a soft click, Finn kicked in the door, causing the door handle to leave a deep dent in the wall. Upon hearing the impact, the demon hunter knew that Paige would flip the fuck out for damaging her wall, but it didn't look like she had the energy for that now... because she was losing more blood by the second.

Finn had heard the blood that was dripping from Paige's leg to the ground when he ran back to The Pentagram, for a moment he was sure that there was a sinister trail of blood splatters leading all the way to the store. Goosebumps appeared on his arms when he realized that people, demons, or even some of Alberto's buddies who just happened to be around were going to get curious upon laying eyes on the bloodstains and probably follow it, leading them to The Pentagram; shit would really hit the fan if one or more demons would decide to follow the trail and discover that one of their own had been giving shelter to their natural enemy. But Mother Nature seemed to give the demon hunter a lucky break for once, because when Finn was crossing the street, a loud rumbling noise was heard from the dark grey sky, that had been foreshadowing a rainstorm for a while; it lasted less than five seconds before the first raindrops touched the concrete. By the time Finn and his heavily injured friend had reached the gothic shop, a shower of raindrops had soaked the streets. The demon hunter wouldn't stop looking over his shoulder during the run, making absolutely sure Alberto or someone else was following them. Looks like he had slammed some sense into his greedy head. And he'd better remember his words; he was lucky enough that he didn't crush his head into a gory pulp against that wall. During the way back, Finn had used his regenerating powers to fix his beaten face.

Finn was convinced that the rain had erased the bloody trail, but there was no time to think about that; right now he had to remove that damn bullet out of Paige's leg.

The demon witch tried her best to regain her consciousness, breathing heavily and keeping her eyes open no matter how heavy her eyelids felt. She faintly heard her own blood dripping onto the floor of her shop, but the thought of trying to scrub it off in the morning with gallons of bleach was the last thing she was thinking of at this moment. All that she was thinking of now was to kill that grinning bastard who had shot her.

'Where the fuck is he...?' she groaned when Finn was about to carry her up the stairs. 'Where... where the hell is that bastard?'

Finn knew exactly who she meant. 'Don't worry about him. I took care of him.' he reassured her. He dearly hoped that bastard would rot away in that alley. Finn swore to God that he had never ran up these stairs this fast in his entire life. Glancing at the bloody wound on Paige's leg for a brief moment made guilt crash over the demon hunter like a devastating avalanche; not long ago, he had told Paige that he would never forgive himself if she would be harmed, he would be damned if he would have a night of peaceful sleep if she would bleed to death in her apartment. There was only one way to prevent that: he had to save her life.

Once they entered the apartment, Finn rushed to Paige's bedroom, it was the only spot he could think of now. He didn't even take the time to turn on the light in the bedroom of the demon witch when he came in. He carefully laid Paige down on her bed. The sheets were almost immediately absorbed the fresh blood that was still trickling down from her upper leg. Finn hadn't smelled it earlier due to the adrenaline that was pulsing through his body, but now the smell that always made his stomach slightly turn was filling up his nose; it was the unmistaken stench of blood. Jesus Christ, she had lost so much blood, he had to hurry! Finn was convinced that the red stains on the sheets, which had smelled like lavender on the morning that Paige changed her bedding, would forever remain a grim reminder of the night the demon hunter was fighting for his landlady's life.

'Oh God...' Paige groaned when Finn flipped the light switch. The light that illuminated the room revealed the dark red shade of the demon witch's blood. 'Don't fucking tell me that I'm going to die, Finn...'

'Ye're not goin' to die!' Finn hastily replied. 'I'm gonna make sure ye'll live, just hang in there, alright?'

The demon hunter heard Paige emitting a loud groan of pain when he turned around and ran to the bathroom; he knew that there was a first-aid kit in there, he had seen it once when he was searching the bathroom cabinet for toothpaste (or shampoo... he didn't remember that well, but that didn't matter now). After he flipped the light switch in the bathroom, Finn opened the cabinet above the sink and felt a thin sheet of cold sweat covering his neck when he feverishly searched for the first-aid kit. He could barely hear his own thoughts over the loud sound of his heart beating like a jackhammer in his head.

'Come on come on, where the fuck are ya, ya little bastard?!' the demon hunter hissed through his teeth while he continued to search, knocking over packages of aspirin and toothpaste over in the process. He swore to God and everything else that was holy that he would return to the alleyway to tear Alberto into bloody bits if Paige would bleed to death on her bed. His rapidly beating heart cringed in relief for a short moment when he saw the first-aid kit in the back of the cabinet. Finn quickly grabbed the small white suitcase, knocking more stuff over while doing so, and ran back to the bedroom. Thank God, Paige was still alive... but it was obvious that she was beyond pissed. Finn honestly wouldn't blame her if her anger was directed to him.

'Bring me... back to that alley...' Paige growled with a hoarse voice. A faint dark blue light could be seen illuminating her eyes. 'I'm... I'm going to beat that fucker until he'll bleed out of his arse...!'

'No, ye're not goin' anywhere.' Finn replied. Opening the first-aid kit, he saw a few rolls of bandages, a brown bottle of disinfectant and a large pair of tweezers. Perfect. 'Now hold still, I'm gonna pull that bullet out of yer leg.'

The demon hunter grabbed the pair of tweezers. They were long enough to reach the bullet, but there was no doubt about it that this was going to hurt. But hell... if he wouldn't inflict pain on her, she was going to die. There was no other way.

Paige had noticed the tweezers and immediately realized what was in store for her. 'Oh damn...' she groaned.

'Look, I'm goin' to make this as quick as possible.' Finn said. 'Ya need to hang in there, Paige. Ya gotta be strong now, okay? This will be over before ya know it.'

The demon witch slowly nodded, her eyes clearly showing what was going through her mind; she was going to enter a world of pain.

'Alright. Just... just do it.' Taking a deep breath and clenching her eyes shut, Paige mentally braced herself for what was to come.

It didn't hurt a lot. Oh no, it hurt a whole fucking lot.

The tweezers felt like sharp fingernails digging into her damaged flesh. Paige arched her back and let out a bloodcurdling scream, pulling her leg away, causing the tweezers to slip out before they could even clench around the bullet. To his horror, Finn saw that more blood was now trickling out of her wound.

'Oh... fucking hell!' Paige sobbed and covered her eyes with her hands.

'Listen to me Paige!' Finn snarled. 'I can only pull out that goddamn bullet if ya lie still! Ya have to endure the pain! Trust me, this will end soon!'

The demon hunter entered the pair of tweezers into the wound once more, earning another scream from the demon witch. But this time she was trying her best to suppress the urge to pull away her leg, forcing herself to lie still. Rustling could be heard when she clenched the sheets as hard as she could. The tips of the tweezers touched something small and hard again; that had to be the bullet for sure. Finn squeezed the tweezers around the object and quickly pulled out, this time hearing a loud whimper coming out of Paige's mouth.

It was indeed the bullet; Finn dropped the blood-covered piece of agony to the floor. Thank God, he got it out.

'Did you... Did you get it, Finn?' Paige asked with a soft voice.

'Aye. It's out.'

Paige emitted a loud sigh and released her grip on the sheets, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. 'Fuck... thanks.'

The demon hunter grabbed a roll of bandage out of the first-aid kit and gently, yet skillfully wrapped it around Paige's upper leg. There, like that it shouldn't get infected.

'Hey, Finn?' the demon witch asked, her voice still soft from the minor pain that still lingered in her leg.

'Hmm?'

'I... think there's still a healing potion in the backroom downstairs.' She uttered a short snigger, as if she had just made a barely amusing joke. 'Could you be a good nurse and fetch it for me?'

* * *

'How are ya feeling now?' Finn asked when he helped Paige to sit upright. But he immediately considered the question as possibly the dumbest question he has ever asked in his whole life. She had just a rock salt bullet removed from her leg, of course she wasn't going to feel as fresh as a daisy after less than five minutes or so. When he walked downstairs to get the healing potion, he saw a long trail of blood decorated the steps, which made a shiver run up his spine. Oh God, Paige would've died for sure if they had arrived at The Pentagram any later... But they had made it and she was still alive, he couldn't be any more relieved about that. After he grabbed the bottle containing the magic green liquid from the backroom, he made a mental note to himself to clean up the blood the next morning before the customers would ask any questions.

'A little tired, but... I'm fine, thanks.' Paige mumbled.

The demon hunter sat down on the edge of the bed, pulled off the cork of the bottle and gave it to the demon witch. 'Do ya think ya can drink this by yerself?' he asked.

Paige softly chuckled. 'I'm not feeling that weak.' she replied. 'I can do it myself. Thanks for asking, though.' She took a big gulp of the potion and clenched her lips together for a second, not enjoying the bitter taste at all. After she swallowed it, she let out a soft sigh. 'There. Now let's hope I will be fully healed in a day or two.'

'Let's see about that. That wound was pretty deep, ya know? Could take a while to heal, even if ya use a healing potion. And maybe it's gonna leave a scar.'

The demon witch shrugged. 'Eh, I can live with that. At least I got an awesome story to tell whenever someone asks about how I got that bloody scar.'

They both chuckled. It felt like Finn never had to pull out a rock salt bullet out of his injured demon friend's leg a couple of moments ago, it was like they had been sitting here all the time, listening to the summer rain pouring onto the streets outside. You could clearly hear it now, the rain was strong enough to clean most of the pavements and roads. Honestly, there was nothing more peaceful than listening to the rain outside in the night. Finn and Paige both didn't say anything for a little while as they listened to the soothing rain; a loud rumble in the distance would occasionally interrupt the silence, hinting that it was thundering somewhere in another part of the city.

But despite the peaceful atmosphere, Finn couldn't ignore the guilt that was resting in his abdomen, gnawing onto his conscience like a hungry rat.

'I'm sorry.' Finn suddenly said.

'For what?'

'For askin' ya to come with me. I nearly lost ya there, Paige. I was almost sure that ya were going to die.'

'But that didn't happen.' Paige calmly replied; she wasn't holding any ill feelings towards the demon hunter at all. 'I'm still here, am I? Listen Finn, it's not your fault. I was the one who agreed to tag along with you. Don't blame yourself for what happened. I have seen you kicking that piece of shit Alberto's arse all over the alley, you have given him what he deserved. Alberto... that was his name, right?' She paused for a second to chuckle. 'I think he'll be thinking twice whenever he decides to kill a harmless demon. Or even better, he'll stop killing harmless demons. At least, that's what I hope...'

'Maybe not. Those bastards of the Legion Of Hunters are real scum, money is the only thing that's on their minds.'

'Hmm... I sure hope he didn't follow us, though.'

'Don't worry about it, I've made sure that no-one was following us. And even if he did... I wouldn't hesitate to kill him on the spot. Not after what he has done to ya.'

'I suppose so... but Finn, please remember. Don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault.'

'Thanks Paige... I'm glad to hear that from ya.'

'Hey, Finn?'

'Aye?'

Paige hesitated to ask the question that had been burning on the tip of her tongue for a little second. Was it possibly going to bring back painful memories? Seeing the demon hunter, who she saw as a younger brother that she never had, being tormented by memories that he would've rather forgotten, was the least thing she wanted. But there was only one way to find out if the name was actually linked to painful memories... and that was to ask that question.

Paige put the cork back onto the bottle, sealing it shut. 'While you were fighting Eva Marie, I heard you repeating this name... Becky. Who is she? I don't ever think you have told me about a person named Becky before...'

In the blink of an eye, Paige saw sadness filling Finn's eyes; and she knew that a single look in one person's eyes could tell more than a thousand words. Oh damn, so it was indeed linked to bad memories... the demon witch immediately felt guilty for asking the question. Damn, why did she have to be so curious about it?

A sharp pain emerged in his heart as soon as Paige had mentioned that one name. But Finn thought that the demon witch, who he saw as some sort of older sister, had the right to know about it. He had never talked about that one woman, whose name would make his eyes water, or his past to anybody since his stay in the United States. There was so much pain in his heart now... but maybe by telling the truth, it would go away. Finn looked Paige straight in the eyes and finally allowed himself to let down a wall that he had hoped to never break down.

'Becky was the first person who had accepted me for who I was... and the first woman I have ever loved.'

And she would always be the only woman Finn would ever love.

Finn knew that Paige was going to have to listen to a long tale, but he decided to tell it nonetheless. Hell, now that he had revealed the truth about Becky, he should reveal his past, decorated by contempt, blood and hidden secrets, as well. Finn took a deep breath and slowly breathed out. He was ready.

'I have spend my entire childhood in an orphanage, back in Ireland. It was in Bray, up in the north of the country, I believe it's still there to this day. They had brought me in there when I was a baby. For as long as I remember, I have always felt this... darkness, inside of me. I could feel it in my bones that it didn't feel right. It frightened me, it frightened me so much. I was afraid that I would somehow unleash that darkness if I would get close to somebody, which why I always chose to be alone. I never talked, nor did I play with the other kids. The caretakers... they didn't bother to hide their contempt for me. I have been treated like a freak by them ever since I was a baby. I could always hear them when they were talkin' about me. It looked like the thing that made them afraid of me was the fact that I apparently grew a full set of teeth when I was just two weeks old. From that moment on, they didn't consider me as a normal human being, more like... some monster. But that wasn't the only thing I found out during their conversations. It turned out that I was the result of rape... my mother died when she gave birth to me and my father... no, I refuse to call that rapin' piece of shite my father, was never found. But now I can safely assume that he was a demon. Those kids at the orphanage, they weren't any better than the caretakers. They would grab each opportunity to bully me, in the end it's always the lonely lad who gets the beatin'. But then, at the age of twelve, this darkness finally came out for the first time. I can't remember that much, but I can vaguely remember that the first moment I was being beaten up by those bullies, then it all went dark, and when I woke up... those bullies were nothin' more but mangled pieces of flesh. That's when I decided to run away from the orphanage. I ended up in Dublin where I would roam the streets. And on that day in the summer... I met her.'

'Becky?'

'Aye. She didn't seem to be afraid of me at all, guess she found it interestin' to see a lad from around her age roamin' the streets all by himself each day. She would come see me each day, there were even times where she skip out on school, just to see me. I was completely foreign to her kindness at first, but... it didn't last long before I trusted her. We became best mates, she was the first friend I ever had. She was the one who made me strong enough to suppress that darkness inside me. One day, Becky told me she had found an address for me to stay at, she couldn't stand seein' me sleeping outside in the cold and rain. Turned out that the guy who lived in that place was a retired professional demon hunter. His name was Collin Bálor... I have never respected a man that much. He became my mentor, he was the one who had trained me for years. My life finally had a purpose. It didn't last long before I found out that Becky was also a demon hunter in trainin'. Maybe she also gave me that address because she saw that I had the potential to become a demon hunter... During my trainin', I had never released my powers again. When I reached my twenties, my mentor died of old age and I adopted his last name out of respect. Me and Becky teamed up together and went out for many hunts. We were a perfect team, we traveled all over Ireland, tracked down every demon that meant harm to mankind and slaughtered them. But... that's when I realized how much Becky actually meant to me. She was more than my friend. I loved her, I loved her with all my heart. But I thought I would scare her off if she would find out what I really am... so I kept my feelings to myself. I had found out what I really was during that time; a half demon. And I was determined to keep my secret away from Becky. There would be times where Sheamus, another demon hunter that was slightly older than me, tagged along with us and I could clearly see that Becky was fond of him, he seemed to take a likin' to her as well. It didn't last long before they shared their first kiss. Aye, I was heartbroken, but because I thought that Becky was better off with a human... I let it rest. I accepted the fact that she was happy with Sheamus. But then one night... God, it all went to hell so fast.'

'Why? What happened, Finn?'

Finn paused to take breathe in and out once more; this was going to be the hardest part to tell...

'We went on another hunt that night. Me, Becky and Sheamus. At one point, me and Sheamus ended up in an argument, I can't remember what the argument was about, but what I do remember is that it escalated really damn fast. I'm not sure what happened before everythin' went dark, but I'm pretty sure that Sheamus must've mentioned Becky in order for me to snap. It did it. For the first time in years, I unleashed the darkness in me once more. All I can remember from my rampage was the color red and screamin'... and when I woke up, I saw Becky kneeling next to Sheamus' bloody corpse, cryin' her eyes out. Now, I have seen a lot of demons starin' at me with hate in their eyes before I defeated them, but God... I have never seen so much hate in Becky's eyes that night. She told me to go away before she would kill me. And that's exactly what I did. I never saw her again since. I knew that every demon hunter in Ireland, including her, would gladly trace me down and murder me. I moved to the United States as soon as I could.'

It was completely silent in Paige's bedroom, if the sound of rain hitting the window didn't count.

Paige swore to God that she had never heard a more heart wrenching story like this one in her entire life. 'Oh man... Finn... I'm so sorry, I don't even know what to say...' she whispered with sincere empathy in her voice, putting her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

The demon hunter shook his head. 'Don't be.'

He stood up and walked to the door. 'Look, I'm goin' to make some tea. It will probably do both of us good. Do you want some?'

'Uhm... sure, why not?'

'Good. I'll be back in a sec.'

While he walked to the kitchen to prepare two cups of tea, a single tear trickled down Finn's cheek.


	13. Sara

**Chapter 13**

 **Sara**

Goosebumps appeared all over Baron's muscled arms when he drove down the road on his motorcycle that morning. A cold breeze briefly interrupted the rather pleasant temperature the rising sun spread in the landscape, but he wasn't too bothered by it. Hell, he barely felt the brief cold, let alone the summer heat that was slowly becoming warmer and warmer. The ink demon's head was slightly pounding due to the fact that he had drank an ungodly amount of booze last night, but his mind was still as clear as day. One thing had buried deep into his dark mind from the moment he woke up this morning.

And that was to find that one person who would be willing to help him bringing Finn Bálor his ruin.

Not only had the alcohol given him a pounding headache when he woke up, but through the rhythmic pounding that could be heard in his head, he remembered that he was on the verge of becoming absolutely and completely fucking wasted after he had basically plundered the bar last night. Whiskey, vodka, beer, tequila, scotch, Baron drank it all like it was cheap lemonade. Hell, there was nobody to stop him anyway, plus he didn't have to pay anything since the bartender was now a stiff. The ink demon remembered that he had almost tripped over one of the dead bodies that was still lying on the floor and knocked over a chair or two when he walked back to the bar to fetch another drink; it was clear that his gluttonous thirst for alcohol had overcome everything else at that point. And he felt like he fucking deserved some good glasses of booze. But when he was about to enter a full drunken stupor, something inside him told him to stop drinking and get the hell to sleep; he still had a long day ahead of him. Baron had decided to call it a night, stumbled up the stairs and found the bedroom of the owner of the bar (at least, that's what he assumed). He was fast asleep in less than three minutes.

When he came downstairs that morning with his eyes bloodshot and his head pounding, Baron saw that it was already too late to absorb Elias' blood to fuel the power of his tattoos; the blood that had spilled out of his damaged head had dried up and the dead body of the music demon was already disintegrated into a pile of ash. Fuck... what a waste.

The ink demon followed the signs where Levesque City (along with the names of other cities and towns that didn't matter to him) was written on. Elias was a fool, but Baron admitted that he had to thank him, though. Thanks to him, he now knew where Finn Bálor was hiding. The streets of Levesque City would color red with that freak's blood once he would find him. Baron wanted to close his eyes for a moment to fully imagine the scenario he desired so much, but he knew that he had to keep his eyes for the road. But it didn't matter; he could already imagine it with his eyes opened. The Bastard Demon lying in front of his feet as a bloody mess, broken bones visible, a few teeth knocked out of his mouth, blood covering his mangled body. Baron would absorb all of his blood, each drop would be fed to his tattoos. If he could find bitterness in his heart, he would possibly consume his life force as well, but that wouldn't be any fun... he wanted to give that freak a more gruesome death than that. As soon as his new strength would pulse through every vein in his body, Baron would slowly rip Finn Bálor to pieces, no, maybe he would take his time to gut him alive, just for the hell of it. And after all that was done, the ink demon would return to the Demon Realm as the most dominant demon in the history of his home realm.

But he shouldn't rush things, he knew that; if he would immediately start searching for the Bastard Demon without a good plan, things could get ugly for Baron.

Not only had Elias given him useful information before he had made the foolish mistake to question his strength, his words had made him think. If Finn Bálor was really that ungodly strong, then he should better be safe than sorry. No, he refused to become one of those reckless demons who had tried to kill him without a concrete plan, he was better than them. He had been thinking about it... and he was going to find the proper 'shield' that he could use.

From the day that his heart started beating, Baron had to feed on the life forces of those who were bitter through and through; it was the only kind of life force he could consume. He could send that bitterness by a certain aura he could see in someone's chest. That aura would be blue as the summer sky; the more bitterness a person would hold in his heart, the larger and brighter that aura would be. Bitter people were easy to manipulate, Baron knew that. If he could manipulate his bitter 'shield' good enough... he would transfer a part of his powers to him or her and voila, he had his ally. And after the job would be done, he would of course no longer need his ally; after all, that person would mean nothing to him and was completely expandable. After Baron would get what he wanted, he would be on his own again and everyone else could go to hell for all he cared.

Let's see if his puppet happened to be in Levesque City.

Looking to his right, Baron saw that his destination was just five miles away. Upon seeing that, the headache that had been teasing him relentlessly this morning had immediately disappeared.

* * *

Levesque City was rather crowded, there was traffic and people everywhere Baron looked. People were walking on the sidewalks and crossing the street like a flock of sheep, either to go to the office or some other work place, visit the psychiatrist to whine about a fucked up childhood, failed marriage or depression caused by an employer, or to visit the stores to buy fashion or maybe even groceries. When the ink demon glanced at the men from around his age wearing fancy, expensive suits, he shook his head; he would never wear a suit like that, not even if he would be tortured to death if he'd refuse to wear it. No, he would wear his leather biker vest, leather black pants and biker boots with pride, the ink demon refused to blend in with the masses; he had too much self-respect for doing that.

The ink demon allowed himself to be dragged along with the slow traffic. He noticed that some people looked up when they heard the loud roaring of his motorcycle's engine, as if a biker was a rare sight in Levesque City. But he didn't even bother to glance back at them, no, the stares of those people meant nothing to him.

While he drove along with the city traffic, he often looked at the people passing him by to see if they had that one blue aura illuminating their chest area. Baron did see the aura in the chest of an old man, a teen boy dressed in goth fashion, a pre-teen girl with a big backpack, a man in one of those fancy suits he despised so much and a middle-aged woman who looked like she hadn't slept properly in ages, but none of those auras were large enough to consider one of them as a worthy, but expandable ally. For one moment, Baron was afraid that looking for his puppet in this city was a waste of time, but he decided to keep looking. For fuck's sake, that one person just had to be there!

After following the traffic for fifteen minutes or so, Baron finally had enough of it. As soon as he saw a parking lot, he turned right and entered it. He found an empty spot and parked his motorcycle, deciding to explore this city on foot. Like this, he would be able to spot his temporary in time and he wouldn't have to turn his huge motorcycle around if he'd miss that person. Plus, it would look less suspicious if he would follow someone on foot and with a safe distance than with a motorcycle. Baron stepped off his motorcycle, left the parking lot and blended in with the crowd.

Looking around, Baron did see more people with the blue aura in their chests, but much to his disappointment, he didn't see that one person who had enough bitterness in his or her heart. It surprised the ink demon that there were quite some people in this city who were bitter about something. But then again... was there a place in this world where there were people who were fully content with their lives, past, family bonds and whatnot? Baron had a hard time believing that someone would be happy with everything in his or her life. No, everyone had to be bitter or resentful about something. If someone would tell him that everything was fine in their eyes, he would call bullshit on it.

Half an hour or so had passed since the ink demon arrived in the city and he still hadn't found that one person he could turn into his puppet. He had told himself that he probably had to have patience for this, but he was now seriously on the verge of becoming frustrated. And if he would get frustrated, he felt the strong urge to punch, no, to kill something to relieve his frustration. He fucking swore that if that if he wouldn't find his 'shield' in Levesque City, someone was bound to end up dead. Baron clenched his fists in his pockets and loudly breathed out through his nose. He randomly looked to his left and stared into an alleyway, not expecting to see someone in there.

Baron was the kind of person who didn't smile a lot, but right now he felt the strong urge to grin from ear to ear.

His 'shield', his puppet, his expandable ally, was standing in the middle of the alleyway, ready to enter a door on her left. It was a young woman, most likely in her early twenties. The upper part of her long hair was naturally brown and the lower part was dyed blonde. When the ink demon squinted his eyes for a better view, he saw that the woman had a small ring pierced in her right nostril. And it was right there, in its full glory, the blue aura that represented bitterness; it was practically engulfing her entire chest area. So much bitterness... this was exactly what Baron had been looking for! The young woman didn't even seem to notice the ink demon, she quickly tied her hair in a ponytail before opening the door and stepping inside the building, shutting the door behind her with a loud bang.

Baron didn't doubt about it for a second; she was the one.

Turning around and looking behind him, he saw what kind of building his future puppet had just entered. It was a diner. Did she perhaps work there? That was most likely, since she had entered from the back. Baron could've sworn that her bitter aura had brightened for a brief moment when she entered the diner.

Alright, bitch... let's get more acquainted, shall we?

When Baron gazed into the diner when he entered, he saw immediately that this was one of the diners that was doomed to shut down in a year or two. The smell of bacon grease and freshly made coffee filled his nose, but it would be most likely the lack of customers that would cause the shutdown of this diner. There were only a businessman and a mother with two little kids here, all waiting for their brunch to be made. A radio could be heard in the kitchen, broadcasting the results of last night's football match.

'Well... isn't this a goddamn depressing place?' Baron thought to himself before he sat down at one of the tables. Almost immediately when his behind touched the seat, he could feel a pair of eyes staring at him. It was the woman with the kids, he assumed. Obviously this dumb bitch was feeling everything but comfortable around a nearly seven feet tall biker, possibly afraid that he was going to harm her two little brats if they dared to piss him off. And she was damn right about that; if her kids would dare to scream or throw their food at him or some shit, she would wish she had used protection when she decided to have sex. Without moving his head, Baron glanced to his right and his assumption was proven right; the woman realized that she had been caught staring and immediately looked away. Stupid bitch.

Baron heard a door opening and he saw his future puppet entering the diner. She was wearing a black polo shirt with the name of the business embroidered on it. So she was indeed working here...

'Lee, you're late!' the chef bellowed in the kitchen. 'Damn it girl, can't you tell time?!'

'Sorry!' the young woman hastily replied. 'Traffic was being a pain in the-'

'Yeah yeah, spare me the excuses. I've already finished one order, make yourself useful and bring it to the table, will ya?'

'Sure.'

Letting out a sigh, the young woman grabbed the plate of fresh food, checked the ticket and walked to the front of the diner. She was walking to the businessman, who was sitting near the window, and again she didn't acknowledge Baron. But that was fine with him; as long as she wouldn't notice him, all would be good. Lee... was that her last name?

'Here you go, sir!' the young woman said with a fake smile when she put the plate in front of the customer. 'A ceasar salad, just like you ordered. Bon appetite!'

Instead of a polite 'thank you', the young woman was answered with a cold glare. The smile disappeared from her face like snow exposed to sunlight.

'This is not what I ordered.' the businessman replied angrily. He grabbed the plate and roughly shoved it back into her hands. 'Take that back to the kitchen and tell them they got my order wrong! At least you will do something right then!'

'Oh... right. My apologies, sir.'

The waitress turned around and walked back to the kitchen, but she was unfortunate enough to hear the disgruntled businessman loudly mumble 'Dumb bitch.' under his breath. Baron could see it now clearly; the aura in her chest area was brightly flickering. Was this insult adding more bitterness to her? Baron dearly hoped so.

Just on that moment, one of the woman's children, a toddler that couldn't be older than two, threw his toy, a small, cheap-looking teddy bear, on the ground, right in front of Ms. Lee's feet. She didn't see it coming. Her feet touched the stray toy and she tripped right over it, causing her to fall to the tiled floor with a painful thud. The plate of salad crashed next to her, shattering into tiny pieces and sending pieces of lettuce everywhere.

'Damn it, Lee!' the chef bellowed. 'You can't even look where you're going, you stupid cow!'

'Ugh... ouch... sorry...' the humiliated waitress groaned, getting up on her feet.

'Go clean that mess up! Now!' So much for empathy.

Baron watched as Ms. Lee got up and tried to ignore the pain in her knees. But he clearly saw something that nobody else saw; the bitterness in her heart was now as bright as a traffic light. He saw a blonde young woman, definitely from around Ms. Lee's age, coming out of the kitchen with a broom and empty trash bag. She was wearing the same polo shirt Ms. Lee was wearing, there was no doubt that she was a colleague.

'There you go, I already got it.' the other waitress said.

'Thanks, Mandy.' Ms. Lee replied with a nearly emotionless voice.

'Hey Sara, don't be bothered by this.' Mandy said while she helped her colleague swiping the shards and lettuce into the trash bag. 'Tonight you're gonna have an awesome time at the party at my place and put all of this behind, girl! You're still coming, right?'

'Yeah, I am. Can't wait for it!' Again, the humiliated waitress tried to produce a genuine smile, but it was pretty damn obvious that it was forced and fake.

Sara Lee. That was her name.

While he continued to stare at her, Baron thought that it would be a good idea to visit that party tonight as well.

Sara would have no idea about what was coming to her.


	14. Knight In Bloodstained Armor

**Chapter 14**

 **Knight In Bloodstained Armor**

 **Warning: this chapter contains a part depicting attempted rape. If you do not feel comfortable with that, skip it.**

Sara Lee never thought she would ever say this, but... going to a party didn't really sound that bad. She had never been the kind of person who would enjoy visiting every party she got invited to, but hell, she could actually really use it right now; it sure would be nice to get a break from all the bullshit she had to endure at her workplace for the past couple of months.

'Now let's see, what to wear...' Sara mumbled to herself when she opened the wardrobe, studying her clothes. Most of the fashion that was hanging in her wardrobe consisted of clothes with a plaid patterns, she always had a thing for that. Sara always had believed that plaid patterns had something rebellious, which was why she enjoyed wearing that. It made her feel... strong, in some kind of way. She was everything but a girly girl, she had always considered herself a bit of a tomboy. There would be rare times where she would wear a dress, but there were only two dresses hanging in her wardrobe, hiding between all the other clothes she would much rather prefer to wear.

Sara decided to go for a black top, sleeveless blue and purple plaid vest and black shorts; she remembered that she still had a pair of black sneakers somewhere that could match with the outfit.

Her knees were still slightly sore from the fall she had at work, there was a chance that she would wake up with bruises on her knees the next morning. Her boss, who also happened to be the chef, couldn't give less than a damn if she couldn't even walk from the pain, he demanded that she would finish her shift. And just like always, Sara would be relieved if her ordeal was over and was free to go home, but she knew in the back of her head that this would have to return to that diner the next day, much to her agony. As much as she wished to quit her job, Sara was afraid that she would be unable to find a new one sooner or later; hell, she already had struggled so much to get a job in the first place. Sara was so goddamn happy when she got that phone call, confirming that she could start working the next day... but now that happiness felt like a distant memory.

Today wasn't actually the worst day she had, no, there had been far more humiliating things she had endured during her time working at the diner. There was this one time where a disgruntled lady in her fifties had thrown a full glass of orange juice in her face, just because she found a hair in it and was convinced that it came from Sara. And then there was this one time her boss was so infuriated due to the fact that she wanted to go home earlier because she was struck by a heavy case of the flu, he had furiously yelled at her at in front of all the customers; Sara swore to God that she had never felt so many tears burning in her eyes when she felt the gazes of the customers piercing into her soul. Mandy was the only co-worker she had considered as some sort of friend. No, that was wrong, she wasn't a friend to her... just someone she could tolerate at most, because Mandy was the only one who was willing to treat her a bit more friendlier than her boss or other colleagues. Sara noticed that Mandy would act distant to her most of the time, but she didn't mind it.

She was used to be alone.

Sara had to be honest, she did hesitate at first to go to the party. She didn't know any of Mandy's friends, she was afraid she was going to feel like a total stranger in the middle of all those people; she almost instantly regretted the moment where she agreed to go when Mandy invited her. But now it didn't sound bad at all; she could use a bit of fun.

And who knows... maybe she could meet Mr. Right Guy at that party. That thought made Sara chuckle, but not in amusement.

She quickly brushed her hair and went downstairs to fetch her sneakers. And she was right; they did match with her outfit. She grabbed her house keys, which she had put on the dinner table when she came home from work, put it in her pocket, decided not to take a jacket with her and left her house.

Mandy's place wasn't too far away, so she decided to go on foot. It was a warm summer this year, you could still feel some heat in the evening. Looking up, Sara saw that the night sky was already showing the first stars, which had always reminded her of miniscule diamonds. But despite the pretty sight, she couldn't ignore that strange feeling that suddenly developed in the pits of her stomach. It was like it was trying to tell her that something was awaiting her at the party... something wicked. But what...? Sara stopped walking and almost wanted to head back home, but managed to convince herself to pay no attention to that feeling. Damn it, she was twenty-three years old, she was still young, she needed to have fun before it was too late and she fucking deserved to go to that party, because she wanted to close the darkest chapter of her life.

And it was an insanely long chapter.

Sara took a deep breath and slowly breathed out through her nose, trying to make that uncomfortable feeling go away. And it worked, for a bit. The feeling was light enough to completely ignore it, thankfully. She started to walk again, convincing herself to never think of that unnamed feeling again and have fun. She could already hear faint music in the distance; Mandy's place wasn't that far anymore, just a couple of streets more and she would be there.

Sara had absolutely no idea that a certain ink demon was silently watching her from the shadows of the street.

* * *

'Ah, Sara!' Mandy exclaimed with a big smile on her face when she saw the young woman. She walked towards her and pulled her in for a brief, friendly hug; Sara was not really pleased by the way too sudden hug, but because she wanted to be polite and not offend her 'friend', she awkwardly patted Mandy on the back. 'I'm glad you could make it!' Mandy said when she let go of her. 'Do you want something to drink? There is plenty of beer, you know.'

The first thing that Sara immediately noticed when she got close to Mandy's house was that the front door was wide open, everyone could walk in and out whenever they wanted. Sara couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief; Mandy obviously hadn't thought of the possibility that total strangers could enter her home and do whatever they wanted, like stealing her damn TV without her even noticing it.

The second thing that Sara noticed was that there were more people attending the party than she thought, all of them were in their twenties. Everywhere she looked, she saw someone having the time of their freaking life. Jesus, she had no idea that Mandy actually had that many friends. This automatically made Sara assume that her colleague used to be that one popular girl back at high school that practically had a whole army of friends who all wished to become popular as well by hanging out with her; and it looked like Mandy's popularity still mattered, judging by all the guests she saw. But then again... some of the people could easily be strangers who snuck in to have a good time. Some people were dancing to the pop music that blasted out of the stereo, others were talking to each other in groups. Almost everyone was holding a can of soda or beer.

Sara chuckled and shook her head. 'No thanks, I'm not planning on getting drunk just yet.'

'That's fine. There's soda and water in the kitchen, you can help yourself.'

'Sure, thanks!'

Mandy opened her mouth to say something else to Sara, but then a female voice called out her name. 'Oh, hold on, some of my friends are over there. I'll see you later. Try to have fun, okay? And who knows...' Mandy curled her mouth into a playful grin and winked at her. 'Maybe one of the guys here could be your type! Drinks are in the kitchen, by the way!'

And before Sara could say something back, her co-worker turned around and walked towards a couple of girls.

'Damn it, don't leave me...' she mumbled under her breath. Looking around her, Sara had never felt this awkward in her entire life. Unbelievable... barely five minutes had passed and she already felt like a stranger, an unwelcome intruder who wasn't supposed to be here.

'She invited me because she felt sorry for me.' she thought. 'She invited me to her party because I'm the laughing stock of the diner. Because I always get yelled at by my boss and treated like crap by most of the customers. She felt pity for me, that's why she invited me.'

She meant nothing to her... that's why she was always acting so distant towards her.

Sara clenched her fists and tried to suppress the urge to walk out, because if she would, Mandy would probably ask her why she left when they would meet up at work the next day. And she was convinced that she would never talk to her again if she would blatantly tell her the truth, let alone invite her to another party. Sara let out a sigh. Fine, she was here now, so she should at least try to have some fun.

Drinks were in the kitchen, Mandy had told her. Sara walked to the kitchen, which was almost impossible to enter because there were already so many guests there, drinking and chatting. She maneuvered herself between the people and grabbed a plastic red cup from the kitchen counter, which she filled with water from the tap. Maybe she could get a soda or even a beer later on. While holding the cup of water in her hand, Sara walked back to the living room and spotted an empty spot on the big, brown, leather couch. She sat down and looked around, occasionally taking a sip from her cup. Just like she had expected, it was like she was invisible to the rest. Nobody who bothered to even glance at her, but that's what she had expected as well. There were brief moments where she did miraculously find enough courage to step towards a group of people to strike up a conversation, but the courage immediately sank to her feet when she pictured their cold gazes staring at her as soon as she spoke. Sara decided to remain on the couch and snack on a little bowl of roasted peanuts.

She felt the leather pillow dent in and the smell of cheap beer filled her nose. Looking to her right, she was met with the thin, grinning face of a young man from around her age.

'Hey there, babe.' he said; another whiff of alcohol made Sara nearly unable to breathe. 'What's a fine-looking chick like you here, sitting alone on the couch? Don't you want some company?'

Jesus Christ, this guy was absolutely fucking wasted. Sara wanted to get rid of him as quick as possible. She shook her head. 'No thanks, I'm good.' she said as politely as she could.

But it looked like the guy didn't take 'no' for an answer. He scooted a big closer to Sara, making her feel even more uncomfortable. 'Oh, you must be shy. That's okay, I have a thing for shy girls. But don't worry, I won't bite. I know what to do to make girls like you like me. How about we go upstairs and have a little fun, you know? Just the two of us, baby...'

From the corner of her eye, Sara saw that this drunk creep was about to put his arm around her. Filled with disgust, she pushed him away from her. 'I said: no thanks. Get the hell away from me!' she hissed.

The drunk creep stared at her for a moment with a blank look in his eyes, scoffed, stood up and walked away.

Sara let out a soft sigh of relief and took another sip of her cup of water; thank God, he was gone. Only now she noticed that goose bumps had appeared all over her arms. She was actually surprised that it was so easy to make the guy back off, but at the same time, she was glad. If any other guy would try to flirt with her like that, she would shove them away from her as well. She would never allow a creep like that guy to touch her; Sara hoped that message had reached his alcohol-drenched brains.

But that creepy drunk was not the only one at the party who had his eyes set on Sara...

Just when Sara wanted to grab another roasted peanut from the bowl, she felt a hand grabbing her arm. Goddamn it, it was that guy again! Just when she wanted to shout, she saw (much to her relief) that it was Mandy.

'Hey, are you still alone?' she asked. 'Come on, I'll introduce you to some of my friends! I bet they would love to get to know you!'

Just before Sara could respond, Mandy had pulled her off the couch and dragged her away... leaving her cup of water on the windowsill.

'She's doing this again because she pities me.' Sara bitterly thought to herself when she allowed Mandy to drag her to her friends, but she didn't say anything. A small group of girls were waiting for them near the kitchen and Sara automatically assumed that they were friends from Mandy's carefree high school years.

She tried not to sound awkward and tried her best to make a proper conversation with them for a while. Much to her surprise, Sara could hear that they were genuinely interested in her when she said that she was a colleague from Mandy. But since Sara was around their age, they immediately assumed that she had the same interests as they had, like going out every weekend and visiting clubs, bombarding her with questions of which clubs and bars she had visited so far. Sara had chuckled and told them that she would rather stay at home watching a good movie or reading a book, but from the moment she told them that, she noticed that they became less interested in her. Maybe they thought she was wasting her young life away by staying at him... which made Sara feel less comfortable with talking to them by the second.

And of course she wasn't going to tell them about her past; she was planning on keeping her mouth shut about that as soon as they'd ask her.

Suddenly, Sara noticed her mouth was dry and she remembered the cup of water she had left on the windowsill; she hoped that nobody had touched it.

'Excuse me, I'm getting thirsty. I'll be back in a second!' Sara said. She turned around and maneuvered her way back to the couch. She saw that her cup was still on the windowsill, thankfully nobody had removed it. All that talking had made her thirsty, she could use some cold water. Sara grabbed the cup and took a big gulp. The cold water cleared the thirst in her mouth, maybe she could quickly go back to the kitchen to get some more water.

It took just a few steps for Sara to make the world around her look like it was spinning.

'What the hell...?' she whispered to herself. She tried her best to ignore the dizziness, but it was impossible. The strange feeling slowly climbed all the way to her head, making it feel light, nearly numb even. She hadn't been drinking any alcohol yet, not a single drop. But then why was she feeling so dizzy? She had a good dinner before she went to the party, she even had dessert... but then... why? Sara rubbed her temples in an attempt to make that strange feeling in her head go away, but it had no effect.

Then the realization struck her like a lightning bolt.

Oh God.

God, no.

She was roofied. Someone had spiked her drink.

A sickening feeling emerged in the pits of Sara's stomach when she realized it. Oh Jesus Christ, this wasn't happening, this was too messed up for words... She had heard so many stories of young women having their drinks spiked with some kind of drug at clubs or bars, the results would almost always be the same; as soon as they would pass out, the guys who had drugged them could have their way with them. It was that one goddamn thing that every woman feared for when they went out, their worst nightmare... and it was happening to her right now. A drop of cold sweat trickled down Sara's face as she felt her heart beating in her head like a drum. She had left her drink on the windowsill for maybe five minutes, anyone was able to slip a drug into it without anybody else noticing it. Oh God, no, how could she have been so stupid?!

She had to get out, she realized. She had to get out before someone would do God knows what to her.

Her limbs started to become numb when Sara moved into the direction of the door in an attempt to escape her impending doom. Nobody noticed her condition, nobody who batted an eye to her; everyone was too busy talking with each other, drinking, texting or making out with their significant other; not even Mandy and her group of friends noticed her. The open front door was her only chance of escape, as soon as she would breath in the fresh night air, she would try to make a run for it for as long as her legs would allow her to, maybe even knock on the neighbor's door to ask them to call the police. Hundreds of thoughts ran through Sara's roofied mind as she got closer to the door; one of those thoughts was the fearful thought of what could happen to her as soon as she would pass out. Oh God, she didn't want to think about it, she wanted to get out of here!

Despite the immense dizziness and numbness in her limbs that washed over her like a tidal wave, Sara managed to enter the empty hallway, where the open front door was waiting for her, like the gates of Hell. She hobbled towards it, she could already feel the cold wind of the night on her arms, she was so close...

'Not so fast, babe.'

A hand grabbed her arm and for a moment, Sara was convinced that it was the bony hand of the Grim Reaper; she was convinced that she was going to die from that touch. But when she looked up, she saw something that was even worse; it was the drunk that had been creeping on her earlier on. The grin on his face had something devilish as dark lust brewed in his eyes.

'You and I are going to have a bit of fun. Let's go upstairs, shall we?'

Sara's breath became shallow as she began to panic even more. It was him. God fucking damn it, it was him who spiked her drink! That sick fucking bastard! Sara wanted to fight back, break free from his grip, run away, but she was too weak for all of that; her limbs had never felt this numb. Escape was impossible when the guy helped her up the stairs, she wanted to scream for help when they nearly reached the second floor, but it felt like her throat was stuffed with sand. Tears of fear formed in the corners of Sara's eyes, oh God, was there really no-one who was going to save her?!

When they got onto the second floor, the drunk creeper turned right, opened a door, peeked inside and his grin grew wider. At this point, Sara's sight started to become blurry, but through the mist she saw that he was taking her into a bedroom. ('Is this Mandy's bedroom?' was the one of the few clear thoughts that went through her head) Once they were inside, the attacker closed the door, dragged Sara through the bedroom and tossed her onto the bed like a ragdoll. Nobody could've heard the creaking of the mattress, the loud music must've overlapped that sound. Sara tried her best to sit up, but her body had completely given up on her. Her body felt numb, her sight was blurry and all she could do was produce whimpering noises and tears. Footsteps... she could clearly hear them. The creeper was now standing in front of her and looked down at her, his perverted grin not leaving his face for a second. He chuckled and shook his head.

'This is actually all your fault, you know?' he said. 'If you weren't such a bitch and played hard to get downstairs, this wouldn't have happened. I put something in your drink to make it more easier for me, I'm not sorry for that. We could've gone upstairs and have fun in a normal way, but no, you had to be a bitch, like all of those other women are! Now you're gonna lie there, shut the hell up and let me fuck you, okay? And oh, one more thing... I'm not planning on going gentle. That's not my thing, you know...'

More tears of fear spilled over Sara's face when the words found their way through the mist in her head and reached her mind. Oh God... he was going to rape her! She was now going to be one of those many women who were unfortunate enough to go through this, she was going to be scarred for life in all kinds of way possible... and there was nothing she could do about it. More whimpering noises escaped past her lips when Sara felt her shorts being unbuttoned, followed by a pair of hands grabbing her shorts and pulling them off, taking her panties along with them. She clenched her eyes shut in humiliation, she had never felt this exposed in her entire life. The same pair of hands roughly grabbed her legs and spread them apart, exposing her even more. Then she heard the sound of a zipper going open, she felt the mattress dent in and something hard and warm pressing against her entrance. Loudly sobbing, Sara prepared herself for the worst pain she would ever feel in her life...

But it didn't come.

Instead, it came for her attacker.

It sounded like a blade being launched into flesh. Sara opened her eyes and faintly saw the drunk creep being pulled away from her by the collar of his shirt, his eyes widened with pain and horror and letting out a bloodcurdling scream. She couldn't lift her head to see it, but she could hear that the blade was being pulled out of the flesh, only to be launched into her attacker's body once more. The screaming became softer... was he stabbed in his heart? Then the most horrific sound came; the blade was ripping through his ribcage, shattering bones, tearing through his flesh. Blood was splattering on the floor, lots of it. Now drifting in and out of consciousness, it sounded like a huge waterfall was falling on the floor if you'd ask Sara. The soft screaming turned into eerie gurgling noises, as if... as if... he was drowning in his own blood. Something fell on the floor with a loud thud; it fell in the pool of blood, there was the sound of splashing. Then it became silent.

Still trying to regain her consciousness, Sara still tried to look up. Was she... saved? But who saved her? Footsteps approached her and she saw a man towering over her, staring down at her. Her savior had black hair that reached his shoulders, eyes as black as the night, was wearing a leather biker vest and his chest and right arm were covered in tattoos with different designs... and all of them were glowing. Yes, it was true, her eyes weren't lying to her; each tattoo was glowing with a bright color. Her savior kept staring at her, not saying a word. Sara tried to open her mouth to speak, she suddenly felt the strong need to thank him, but she couldn't speak a word. Instead, more whimpering could be heard.

Then her mysterious savior turned around and walked away from her, exiting the bedroom. With her last bit of consciousness, Sara heard him going downstairs. Screaming could be heard. Was that... Mandy screaming? More screaming followed, now from multiple people, Jesus Christ, it were the screams from Hell...

Sara Lee finally fainted.


	15. Ring The Alarm

**Chapter 15**

 **Ring The Alarm**

Did the drug kill her or was she still alive?

Drifting in the dark void of her mind, Sara had absolutely no idea. She couldn't even think in the first place; it was like she was pulled into this deep, dreamless sleep, almost like she was in a coma. But that wasn't the case thankfully, she was unconscious and would wake up anytime soon, accompanied by a sickening feeling in her stomach, a huge headache... and possibly a big scare. Sara had been captured in a wasteland of darkness for the last hours, oblivious to everything that was happening around her. There wasn't a single ray of light, nothing that came close to a dream had crossed her mind. But this nearly felt peaceful, though; she wasn't plagued by any memory of the party, the cruel rape attempt, the person who saved her, or anything else for that matter.

The time for Sara to wake up had come at last after many hours.

She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt so heavy. Something was coming through the darkness, making her more aware that she was alive; and that something was an agonizing headache, almost coming close to a migraine. It felt like someone had kicked her head over and over again, it was hurting so much.

'Ugh...' she managed to moan with a barely audible voice. Only now she could feel how dry her lips and mouth were; she didn't have enough strength to run her tongue over her lips to make them wet.

Sara's arms felt so heavy when she tried to move them to rub her temples, but miraculously, she was just strong enough to lift them a bit. And just when her hands were almost touching her pounding temples, one single thought crossed her mind, like a bullet being fired from a gun.

'What the hell did that bastard put in my drink that fucking bastard that sick fuck goddamn it where is he?' It went by like a flash, it was so fast, making the thought nearly incomprehensible.

But the quick thought officially confirmed for her that she was still alive. Sara managed to touch her temples and rub them in an attempt to make her headache less worse, but it didn't help too much. She tried to open her eyes once more, which surprisingly worked. Through her eyelashes, she saw light, which increased her headache more. This caused Sara to immediately shut her eyes. She let out a soft groan and carefully opened her eyes once again. This time, she was able to endure the light. Slowly opening her eyes more and more, Sara noticed that the light wasn't coming from a lamp or anything. No... it was sunlight. It was rather faint; was it morning or afternoon?

The heaviness one her eyelids instantly vanished when she had fully opened her eyes, but it didn't ease the massive headache. For a brief moment, Sara was afraid that her head would explode as soon as she would move it, it was that painful. Her eyes were now staring at a gray-white ceiling, decorated with very tiny cracks on some spots.

She was in a house, Sara realized. Then another thought, just as quick as sudden as the one when she tried to move her arms, crossed her mind: was she in the house of that creep who tried to rape her?!

Her heart started pounding like crazy, so loud, she swore that she could hear it in her sore head. A heavy chill ran over her spine, making her fully snap out of the last bit of drowsiness. Sara struggled to sit upright, which she had just enough strength for to do so. She tried to control her breathing; if she would hyperventilate, chances were that she was going to pass out again. Practically holding her breath, Sara looked around her.

She was in a bedroom, it was clearly a bedroom. The wallpaper had a rather dirty shade of yellow and there were some dents near the door; did someone throw something against the wall? The laminate flooring looked like it hadn't been renovated in decades. A dusty fan was dangling from the ceiling, above the doorway. An old wooden wardrobe could be seen in the far right corner. A light bulb attached to the ceiling was the only light source for when it got dark. There was a sink on the left, a few steps away from the door, which surprisingly looked new. A square mirror with old toothpaste splatters on it was attached on the wall behind the sink. Faint sunlight was shining through the window on her right.

Sara had no idea that she was in the bedroom of the killed owner of Lucky Thirteen, a biker bar that was located a couple of miles away from Levesque City.

Just then, she noticed that she was lying on something soft, Looking down, she saw that her hand was touching a white and beige striped sheet. A bed... she was lying on a bed! The other thing that Sara noticed now that the mattress was dented in on her left, as if someone or something was lying next to her. As soon as she looked to her left to see what it was, Sara let out a loud, startled gasp; the shock was nearly enough to make her fall off the bed.

No, it wasn't that drunk bastard who had tried to rape her who was lying next to her; it was her savior with the glowing tattoos.

Baron was sitting next to the young woman, staring at her with a bit of an uninterested look in his eyes. 'About time you woke up.' he mumbled. And he truly meant what he said; he had been waiting for her to wake up for hours, she was even still knocked out cold when he woke up early this morning. Whatever that fucker at the party had slipped into her cup of water, it was probably enough to knock out a horse. 'That drug must've fucked you up pretty bad, girl. You've been out for hours.'

With her eyes wide with shock, Sara scooted away from the tall biker. Oh God, how long had he been watching her?! Glancing down, she noticed that her panties and shorts were put back on her... did this mean that he dressed her up?! Jesus Christ, he had seen her naked lower body! A bright red blush of embarrassment colored her cheeks red when the realization struck her. The pounding in her head got worse by the second.

'W-W-What?!' she stuttered. 'Who... who are you?!'

'Don't you remember? Shit, that drug must've fucked you up more than I thought. I'm the guy who saved you. If I hadn't been there in time, that guy could've had his way with you.'

It slowly came back to her, emerging from the back of her painful head. The memory was fuzzy, but it became more clear when the pieces fell together. Just on that one moment where she was convinced that nobody was going to find her in time and that she would forever remember the pain her attacker would deliver her, this tall biker had appeared and pulled him off of her, but not without violence... Yes, it was all coming back to her now. The sound of a blade plunging into her attacker's flesh could be heard echoing in her head, along with the bloodcurdling scream he let out. The grin had disappeared off his face, his eyes were widened with pain and sheer horror. That horrible sound of that same blade tearing through his flesh and bones... he had butchered him like a goddamn pig. And then those screams... Mandy's screams... what the hell happened downstairs?

He must have killed them all... just like he had killed her attacker. And now that he had her for his own, he was going to kill her as well.

She had to get the fuck out of here. Now.

As if she was stung by a wasp, Sara got off the bed and ran towards the door as fast as she could... for as long as her legs would allow her to. When she halfway to the door, whatever energy she still had left in her legs disappeared and left them numb. Sara fell to the floor; a sharp load of pain made her briefly see stars when her head hit the wood. Her breathing grew shallow and panicked when she desperately tried to get up, but it felt like her body had given up on her. And then, much to her horror, Sara heard slow footsteps approaching her. Oh God... he was coming for her! Her stomach violently clenched together over and over again. The footsteps halted... right next to her.

'No... please... don't...' Sara whimpered.

A pair of hands took a hold of her and helped her to get back up on her feet. Just on that moment, Sara couldn't hold it in any longer. She opened her mouth and vomited onto the floor, with painful cramps in her stomach. Whether she was vomiting out of fear or due to the drug, she didn't know, but she was expecting Baron to drop her in disgust, but that didn't happen. Baron patiently let her vomit until there was nothing left in her stomach. Feeling too weak to fight back and having all her energy drained out of her all thanks to that drug, Sara was completely helpless as Baron carried her back to the bed, gently putting her down on the sheets. But when she looked up, Sara could clearly see in Baron's eyes that he didn't have the patience for pathetic little escape attempts.

'Now that wasn't a very smart thing to do, now was it?' he calmly spoke, but there was no doubt that there was something threatening lingering in his voice. 'You listen to me now and you'd better listen good, Sara. That's right, I know your name, don't waste your breath on asking me how. You're not going anywhere. Don't ever think of trying to escape again, got it? It's just gonna be the two of us for a while. I won't lay a finger on you, don't worry about that, but if you dare to double-cross me, there will be consequences. And they won't be pretty. The name is Baron, by the way... pleasure to meet you.'

Ignoring the horrified look on Sara's face, the ink demon stared at the blue aura in her chest.

Oh yes... this bitter bitch was more than ready to be manipulated.

* * *

'Joelle?'

'Yes, daddy?'

'Why don't you go help your mom out in the kitchen? I think she would really appreciate that.'

Without protesting against her father's request, Joelle put down her Barbie doll and got up on her feet, smiling at her father, who was sitting on the sofa. There was nothing else in this world that put a smile on Roman's face than watching his daughter play with her toys after she was done with making her homework. It amused the angel so much when Joelle played out cute, little stories with her Barbie dolls and plush animals, he would gladly partake in her tea parties, even if there wasn't a drop of tea in the plastic, pink tea cups. But as much as Roman loved to watch Joelle play, he wanted her to be an active help in the household; it didn't feel right for him if Galina had to do everything by herself.

'Okay! I'll try my best!' the little girl cheerfully replied and ran off to the kitchen.

'Atta girl! Don't snatch cookies from the cookie jar!' Roman said. A giggle could be heard in the kitchen.

The angel switched the kid's program on the TV to the news channel and let out a tired sigh. Ever since that encounter he had with that half-demon on that road outside the city, he felt so restless... even when the unsettling visions had stopped.

That abomination's strength was immense; just when Roman thought he was about to claim victory, he had fought back as hard as he could and beaten the living shit out of him. He remembered the world around him nearly going black when he slammed his head against the asphalt over and over again, the only thing he could smell was his own blood. That smell was so overwhelming, it almost suffocated him. Pain and burning hatred was the only thing he could feel, the hatred still burning strong even when that freak decided to spare his life and help him up. The angel didn't feel guilty at all for angrily declining the offer; he would rather kill himself than accepting a demon's help. When he took off, Roman immediately realized that he couldn't show himself to Joelle like this, that poor girl would have the biggest scare of her life if she saw her father in front of her school with his entire face covered in blood. He decided to drop by Dean and Renee's place for help. Renee possessed healing powers, she would be able to patch him up in seconds. Roman felt bad for startling the blonde angel with his rather gruesome appearance when she opened the door of their apartment for him. Renee had helped him to sit down on their old couch and used her magic to heal his bloody wounds, while Dean angrily growled he would kill the motherfucker who had done this to him. Roman had thanked his two fellow angels and managed to pick up Joelle from school in time; thankfully she didn't see a single wound or a drop of blood on her father's body.

From that day on, the visions had stopped and Roman couldn't help but wonder why. Did the half-demon decide to escape from the angel's wrath and flee back to the Demon Realm where he belonged? Maybe so, and that was a good thing; if he would ever cross paths with him again, he wouldn't hesitate to kill him. But still... it felt like something wasn't right, he could feel it in his bones.

The intro song of the news could be heard on the TV and seconds later, the anchorman made his appearance on the screen with a friendly smile on his face, ready to once again announce the latest news for millions of viewers. 'Good afternoon, this is the news of five o'clock, presented to you by Byron Saxton.' he said. 'The police of Levesque City have stumbled upon something that comes straight out of a slasher movie. Several bodies of young people have been found in a house in the city's suburb area after the police received calls of family members who had reported some of the victims missing, each of them visiting a party that took place in that same house. When police arrived, the only way Detective Dolph Ziggler could describe the scene as was 'beyond gruesome'. Witnesses still have to be found.'

Suddenly it came back again, that heavy painful jolt Roman had expected to feel at any moment; this time it was so heavy that he thought he was going to pass out. He leaned forward and supported his head with his hands, letting out a grunt of pain. He shut his eyes and the vision began to unfold in the darkness. All the sound around him was blocked out. It was him again. The half-demon. He was in his human form and stared at him with a cold look in his eyes. He didn't say anything, he just... stared. Then the transformation began. His skin turned as black as ink, thick red veins rhythmically pulsed on his body, his eyes turned into the eyes a blind monster would possess and his mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth. The monstrous demon let out a bloodcurdling growl and a scream could be clearly heard, it was shrill and filled with fright. It sounded like that scream belonged to a little girl... was it Joelle?!

Then Roman was thrown back into reality. The abomination and the scream had disappeared into thin air and the angel found himself back in the living room, with the TV still on and his daughter's Barbie doll lying on the carpet. Roman could hear Joelle and Galina laughing in the kitchen.

That vision had appeared as soon as he heard the news about the massacre in that house in the suburb... this couldn't be coincidence; this had to be a sign.

'It was you, wasn't it...?' Roman whispered.


	16. Kind Souls Do Exist

**Chapter 16**

 **Kind Souls Do Exist**

Paige's car had been picked up by a tow truck not long after Finn had accidently wrecked it, it was covered by a good insurance, but unfortunately the female demon would have to be without a car for a long while; she was forced to save up money for a couple months once again. But right now, there was something more important to worry about and that was her health. Alberto had injured her pretty badly, she had lost a lot of blood but she had miraculously survived her nearly fatal ordeal. And it was all thanks to Finn that she was still alive; she couldn't thank him enough for that, now that she thought about it. The demon hunter may have wrecked her precious car, but she could forgive him for that.

But now that there was no car, Finn was unable to travel long distances... but for today, he actually felt kind of glad that he couldn't drive. It was a beautiful sunny day, the kind of weather that fit perfectly with the summer, it would've been a shame to drive somewhere and not enjoying the pleasant temperature. The demon hunter had noticed that from the moment he woke up this morning; faint sunlight was shining through the curtains in front of the window, giving his bedroom a rather serene atmosphere. But there was no time for lying in bed for the whole morning. Work had to be done.

The healing potion that Paige had drank that night helped closing up the wound in her leg, but the process would take three days at most, but it wasn't only that; if Paige would try to walk, she would suffer excruciating pain and slow down the healing process. Reasons enough for the demon witch to spend those days in the apartment and take it easy, thus making her unable to work in her shop. But Finn didn't mind doing all the work alone; he wanted Paige to take it easy, he would feel incredibly guilty if she would have to work with so much pain in her leg. No, let her stay in bed, he would do all of this.

Luckily it wasn't that crowded in The Pentagram today. A new delivery had come in this morning and Finn watched from behind the cash register how customers entered the shop and looked through the fashion. Most of them did buy something and some of them hung around for a little while longer to have a chat with Finn. They asked where Paige was and Finn answered that she wasn't feeling well today and was resting upstairs; there was no way he was going to tell them that the owner of The Pentagram was lying in her bed with a hole in her leg.

When the demon hunter looked at the gothic-styled clock at the back of the store after dressing up a mannequin, he saw to his surprise that it was almost two o'clock.

'Bloody hell... time really goes by fast today.' he mumbled to himself. It was almost time for lunch, but Finn suddenly remembered there wasn't much in the fridge when he made his breakfast that morning. Until now, he didn't have time to buy groceries and he didn't want Paige to go out and suffer pain for the sake of food. He could use this break to buy some groceries, at least he would do something useful with that time; he would simply have his lunch a little bit later. Finn went upstairs, told Paige where he was going and left the shop.

Heading towards the supermarket by foot, the demon hunter remembered once more why he didn't mind driving on this day. The weather was just as good as it was in the morning, there wasn't a single sign that it was going to rain anytime soon. But Finn couldn't help but look over his shoulder a couple of times to see if he was being followed. Who knows, maybe Baron could've somehow tracked him down and was just a couple of meters behind him... or Alberto could've send some of his scumbag buddies after him for beating the living shit out of him, for that matter. But thankfully Finn didn't sense anything suspicious and he safely reached the supermarket. About less than thirty minutes later, he exited the supermarket with a full bag of groceries; when he walked away, Finn sniggered at the thought of trying to convince Paige to eat a plate of fresh rice with vegetables. Finn didn't consider himself a horrible cook, but he planned to order a pizza as soon as the food would accidently get burned.

The demon hunter glanced at his watch and saw that he still had a little more than half an hour before he had to get back to work again. It was such a nice weather today, he hoped he could enjoy it a little bit more... maybe there was still enough time to visit the city park for a while. It wasn't too far away from the supermarket, it was just a five minute walk, yes, he could easily make that. He'd stay there for a few minutes and he would go back to The Pentagram when his time was up, he hoped Paige wouldn't mind it too much.

He could use a little bit of peacefulness, especially now.

* * *

Just like he had expected, there was a peaceful atmosphere lingering at the city park, much to Finn's delight.

Everywhere he looked, there was untouched green and cleanliness; it surprised him that he couldn't spot a single piece of trash, on the paths or the grass, not even an empty soda can, the community workers did a great job on keeping the park clean if you'd ask him. The last time he went to this place, the demon hunter saw a group of teenage boys hanging around near the biggest tree of the city park, being obnoxiously loud and carelessly throwing away empty bags of chips and empty beer cans on the grass and pathways, not bothering at all to just put them in the trash cans like any well-mannered person would do. Finn had shook his head in disapproval... such a shame that there were people who lived to ruin the fun for everyone else. And those boys sure did ruin the fun for all the others; Finn remembered a young mother picking up her toddler with a bit of a frightened look on her face and walking away as soon as she saw the loud teens. But thankfully there weren't any obnoxious teens in sight today.

While Finn walked through the park and looked at his surroundings, he saw that more people had decided to take advantage of today's beautiful weather. A small group of mothers watched with great delight at how their little children played near the pond, feeding pieces of bread to the ducks and chasing each other while screaming in excitement. An elderly couple were having a picnic underneath a tree, apparently still enjoying their many happy years of marriage. A young men threw a yellow, plastic flying disc across the field, only for his dog to catch it between his teeth. Seeing all of this made Finn feel so relaxed, he hadn't felt like this in a long time. He didn't sense any demonic auras in the area, which was good. The people who visited this park weren't in danger... for now, that was.

The demon hunter sat down on a bench and stared at the pond, where the mothers decided that it was finally time to head home and walked away with their children. The ducks, who had eaten enough pieces of bread for today, waddled back into the water and swam off.

But even though there was such a peaceful atmosphere in the park, Finn knew that some families were everything but peaceful at this moment... and those were the families of all those young people who were found dead in that house in the suburbs of this city.

Finn had heard about it this morning before he opened the shop; he was watching the news while eating his breakfast. Byron Saxton (without a doubt the most popular anchorman of this news channel) announced that despite the police had asked witnesses to come forward with useful information that could lead to the arrest of the ruthless killer who had butchered those people like pigs in a slaughterhouse, but so far the police had nothing. Staring at the pond, Finn couldn't shake off the strong feeling that there could very well be a demon behind all of this. Only a demon could be capable of murdering over twenty people in one house and make sure nobody would escape, the demon hunter found it hard to believe that a human could be the killer.

Could it be that... Baron Corbin could be behind this?

Finn was planning on going into the city tonight to find leads when his eye fell on a young couple walking near the pond. The woman looked at her partner with a loving look in her eyes and the guy responded by giving her a quick, but sweet kiss on her lips. It almost looked like their hands were fused together, they refused to let go of each other. Man, they looked so happy with each other, they were so in love... and they had no idea that this was tearing the demon hunter apart from the inside. The longer he stared at them, the more he was reminded of Becky; the first and only woman he had ever loved. Goddamn it, they should've been walking near ponds while holding hands, kissing each other and be happy with each other. And it was his fault that all of this was impossible now. Becky would never forgive him for killing Sheamus, but it was not only that. Now that Finn had shown his true nature to her, she would never see him as the boy she had met in the streets of Dublin on a spring afternoon, the friend she had given a home, the man she had hunted demons with for so many years. No, all of that was brutally thrown out of the window on that one night. Those illusions she had hold onto for those years were shattered into pieces, like a brick striking a mirror.

Finn had permanently become a monster in Becky's eyes.

Fuck, his eyes were burning with tears right now.

'Hey, mister... are you okay?' the unfamiliar concerned voice of a little girl asked out of nowhere.

Finn looked up and saw a girl who couldn't be older than eight, staring at him in wonder. She had a tanned skin, long brunette hair tied in two pig tails and there was a questioning look in her big brown eyes. She was wearing a white t-shirt with the print of a pink cartoon pony on it, hot pink shorts and brown leather sandals. She was carrying a pink backpack. The demon hunter felt a hint of shame for a brief moment; damn it, a total stranger had seen him on the verge of tears. Even if she was just a little girl, Finn couldn't help but feel ashamed.

He loudly sniffed and managed to push back his tears. 'What did ya say?' he asked.

'I asked you if you were feeling okay. You look so sad... why?' The little girl slightly tilted her head. 'You have a bit of a funny accent. You're not from around here, are you mister?'

The demon hunter sniggered and tried to smile, but the smile was anything but amused or genuine; it was small and sad. 'No, I'm not. I'm from Ireland, lass.'

'Ireland, huh? I... think I have heard of that country before. My teacher had told us about it once during geography. It's near... England, right?'

Finn nodded, the sad smile not leaving his face. 'Aye, ye're right about that. But look, lass... do yer parents think it's okay for ya to talk to strangers? Haven't they told ya that's dangerous to do? Where are they anyway?'

'Oh, don't worry about that, mister!' the little girl giggled. 'My daddy is not too far away, he's near the pond. I think he's speaking to my godfather on his cell phone. I don't exactly know what they were talking about, but it was long and sounded really boring and I was starting to get bored... But then I saw you sitting here and I could tell that you were really sad. And... to be honest, sad people make me sad as well. So I decided to cheer you up! Even if you are a stranger, I don't want you to be sad.'

The demon hunter couldn't help but chuckle. 'Well, that's very nice of ya, I'll give ya that, lass.'

Then the little girl suddenly quickly blinked her eyes, as if she just had an epiphany. 'I know! If you tell me your name, you won't be a stranger anymore, right? My name is Joelle! What is yours?'

Eh, what the hell; Finn didn't really see any harm in telling this girl his name. And honestly, he really did appreciate her intentions to cheer him up. He had to admit, she had guts to go to a total stranger in an attempt to ask why he was so sad. Did that girl even think that the teary-eyed man on the bench could kidnap and hurt her for that matter? Maybe she was still too innocent to understand that idea...

'My name's Finn.' he said. 'Pleased to meet ya, Joelle.'

'Finn? You mean like that boy from 'Adventure Time'?' Joelle asked, blinking her eyes in innocent surprise.

The demon hunter burst into laughter. The sadness and frustration seemed to take a backseat all thanks to that comment. 'Aye, just like him.' he replied; this time, his smile was bigger and sincere.

'Awesome! Uhm... mind if I sit next to you, Finn?'

'No, not at all.'

Still bursting with childlike confidence, Joelle sat down next to the demon hunter and took off her backpack. 'You know... I could tell that you were so sad by all the colors around you.' she said.

Finn cocked his eyebrow. 'Colors?'

'Yeah, colors. I see them all the time around people. I have never told this to my daddy, because I think that he will say that it's just my imagination. I'm not really bothered by being able to see those colors, I've always seen it as a talent, you know? I don't think my friends can see them. The colors always tell me how somebody is feeling, like for example, when my daddy picks me up from school, I can see a bright yellow glow with little pink dots around him, which means that he is happy. I see that color too around my friends when I'm playing with them.'

Wait, did she mean... that she could see auras? How could a human being see auras, that was impossible! So that meant that little Joelle here wasn't entirely human... Finn didn't see a demonic aura around her, but then... what was she?

'Do you believe me, Finn?' Joelle asked.

The demon hunter smiled and nodded. 'I believe ya, Joelle. I know what ye're talking about and don't worry, I can see those colors as well. They have a name, ya know? They're called auras.'

Again, Joelle slightly titled her head. 'Oh... so those colors are actually auras?'

'Aye.'

'Huh...' Joelle stared at the ducks in the pond for a little second, as if this had to sink into her. Then she looked back at Finn. 'When I looked at you, the colors... I mean, your aura, looked really strange. I did see some blue in it, which meant that you were sad. But then... you also had this dark red aura all over you and it was covered with a white glow... It looked really weird, I had never seen something like that and honestly... it scared me for a bit. I didn't know what it meant. But I also really wanted to cheer you up. And know that I got to know you for a bit, Finn... I'm not scared of you anymore. I think you're really nice!'

Oh dear God in Heaven, this little girl, this little, friendly, way too naive girl, thought that he was nice. Him. Finn Bálor, the Bastard Demon. Hated by demons and demon hunters alike. Traitor to both sides. Wanted dead by many. And she thought he was nice. Finn felt a huge warmth welling up in his chest, he hadn't felt like this for ages... it nearly brought tears to his eyes. This child had given him more friendship and kindness in nearly ten minutes than those bullies and contemptuous caretakers at the orphanage did in twelve years. Yes, Paige and Becky treated him well and he had always appreciated that, but goddamn it, bless this girl, whatever she may be, she deserved a special spot in Heaven.

'Thank ya, Joelle. I... think ye're very nice too.' the demon hunter replied, smiling from ear to ear.

'Say, how about I read you my favorite story to cheer you up? I mean, it always cheers me up when I read it.'

'Sure, why not?' Finn replied, touched by the immense friendliness.

Joelle grabbed her backpack, zipped it open (Finn realized on that moment that she may have gotten out of school and her father treated her with a surprise trip to the city park), searched through her textbooks and lunchbox and pulled out a thin book. The title ' _Alice's Adventures In Wonderland_ ' was printed on the cover.

'Okay then, let's see where I left off...' Joelle mumbled while she turned the pages one by one. 'Ah, there it is! Here it comes!'

And while Joelle read about Alice's encounter with the Queen Of Hearts, Finn swore to God that this must be the most relaxing, peaceful and adorable afternoon he had in ages. Joelle was a bit of slow reader, but she really tried to cheer him up, you could clearly see that. And Finn had to say that she did a terrific job. Her parents were truly blessed with a sweet daughter like-

'Joelle! Get the hell away from that man, now!' an angry voice bellowed in the distance, loud enough to make everybody's head turn. Even the ducks were startled, quickly flying away to the other side of the pond. Both Finn and Joelle looked up and the demon hunter saw in the corner of his right eye that Joelle's eyes were wide with shock, as if she had been caught doing something against the rules... and that was very likely the case. He saw Joelle's seething father approaching them with big steps. His jaw nearly dropped in a mixture of shock and disbelief as soon as he saw who the father was.

It was him.

That angel he fought at the deserted road.

Roman's piercing blue eyes looked like they were spitting fire and ice at the same time, he was that furious. As soon as he got close, both Finn and Joelle stood up. The poor little girl was nearly trembling. In the blink of an eye, Finn realized that if this child was Roman's daughter... then she must be an angel as well. Or a half-angel, at least. Oh god-fucking-damn it, this son of a bitch was her father!

'Daddy! I-I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...' Joelle whimpered, but Roman completely ignored her. Hell, for a moment it looked like he was more furious about the fact that Joelle hasn't been talking to a stranger, but to a dangerous half-demon that could've torn her limb by limb if he hadn't caught them together in time. The angel roughly grabbed Finn's t-shirt and pulled him close, forcing him to look him straight into his enraged eyes. But the demon hunter didn't flinch; no, he was in fact ready for another fight.

'You fucking bastard!' Roman spat at him. 'Stay the fuck away from my daughter! You haven't learned your lesson, have you?! I'm going to kill you, I'm going to tear your-'

Suddenly, the enraged angel felt a pair of hand grabbing his arms and he looked around. The sight nearly broke his adrenaline-fueled heart; Joelle looked at him with big, fearful, teary eyes, clearly on the verge of a panic attack.

'No daddy, please!' the little girl cried. 'Stop it! Finn has been nice to me! Don't hurt him, please don't fight! Please daddy, I don't want you to fight! No, daddy! Please!'

Oh goddamn it... he couldn't expose her to all the violence he wished to lay upon the abomination; he would mentally scar her for life if he would. Looking around, Roman noticed that he had unintentionally caught the attention of the other visitors, he could practically feel their surprised gazes burn into his soul.

Fine then.

Just for once, for Joelle's sake.

The angel let go of Finn and instead grabbed the little girl's arm. 'Let's go, Joelle.' he growled. 'We're going home.'

Joelle managed to quickly grab her backpack before her seething father dragged her away from the demon hunter. She glanced at him one more time before she paid attention to Roman's angry lecture, clearly enraged that she had run off to talk to a stranger... but he wasn't a stranger for the angel. Finn watched until Roman and Joelle disappeared out of his sight.

Then he noticed something lying on the bench from the corner of his eye; Joelle's book was still there, opened up and showing a gritty illustration of Alice with the tyrannical Queen Of Hearts.


	17. Unravel

**Chapter 17**

 **Unravel**

Three days.

It had been three damn days since Sara was saved from her attacker at the party and became a prisoner in the biker bar Lucky Thirteen. She had no idea which feeling overlapped the other the most; the sickening storm that raged inside her stomach or the fear she held towards her savior/jailer, the tall biker with the glowing tattoos. What was his name again? Lying on her bed, Sara tried to find that name in the raging storm that took place in her head, which was still slightly pounding. The biker had only told his name once, it started with a B. Sara frowned when she tried her best to remember; but thankfully it didn't last long for her to find the right name. Baron... yes, that was his name, it was Baron. Sara tried to think what day it was today. Her mind was completely restless when she woke up this morning, it truly felt like there was a storm raging inside it. Closing her eyes, Sara tried to remember. She was sure she knew it when she went to the bathroom after she woke up; there was an old-looking calendar attached to the wall of the dingy bathroom. It was still June, but Sara felt like she had been trapped in her for an eternity. Let's see... it was Wednesday when she left her house and went to Mandy's party. Yes, she was convinced that it was Wednesday. She had been counting the days, so that meant it was Saturday today.

Three days had passed and Sara Lee felt like she had been brutally yanked out of her little world; that little safe world (well... it came close to safe, she guessed) she had fought so hard for to create.

The first day of her captivity was the worst. Normally people would feel nothing but gratitude for the person who had saved them, but would you feel that as well if your savior held you captive in possibly the middle of nowhere and told you that you are not going anywhere? No, during these days, Sara felt nothing that came close to gratitude or appreciation. She had the strong feeling that Baron's threats weren't empty.

And during her life, Sara came to learn that empty threats were a rare thing.

On her first day she wanted nothing more than to find a way to escape and run away like a bat out of Hell, she truly did, but her body had given up on her and refused to cooperate with her. She had never felt this weak and sick before in her entire life, it took quite some strength to sit up, turn on her side or even move an arm or leg. And all of this was the doing of that drunk creep who had tried to rape her at the party; Sara sincerely hoped that her attacker was burning in Hell right now. Like this she could never escape, she was forced to wait for her body to force out the effect of the drug, but in the meanwhile she could figure out which way to escape was the best. Escaping through the window of the bathroom was no option, the frame was way too small for her to crawl through. Could she just simply go through the front door without Baron catching her? Sara highly doubted this, she had the strong feeling that the biker could sneak out of the shadows as soon as she would open the door and grab her. He was taller and looked way stronger than her, so would it be any use for her to put up a fight? No, he could easily overpower her, no doubt about that. And then there was the window of her bedroom, that looked big enough to escape through. But Sara guessed that her bedroom was on the second floor or maybe even higher, so she would most likely plummet to her death as soon as she would jump. And if she wouldn't die, she would probably break a leg or arm. Sara could try to see if the window could open and if it wouldn't budge, she could try to break off the sink and throw it through the window, but then Baron would most likely hear the glass shattering... All of this thinking nearly caused Sara to vomit again.

But despite his intimidating introduction, it surprised Sara that Baron was willing to act like her private nurse of some sorts. She remembered that she didn't dare to close her eyes for one second during her first night of captivity, afraid that the biker would storm into her bedroom and finish what her attacker at the party had started. The thought of her savior/jailer pinning her down and force himself inside her was more than enough to keep her awake for the entire night; it was the first time that Sara had seen the sun come up. But during the past days, nothing about Baron showed that he wanted to harm her in some way and he seemed to keep his promise of not laying a finger on her. No, he was actually... treating her well. A bit distant at times, but still. He gave her a bucket to vomit in and often came into the bedroom to ask how she was feeling and if she needed help with something. He even helped her to go to the bathroom and gave her the privacy she needed. At one point, Sara felt thirsty and asked Baron if she could drink something. He had stared at her for a moment, left the bedroom and after five minutes or so he came back with a beer glass of water. Baron had helped Sara to sit up and let her drink little sips of her water; it relieved her to know that her drink wasn't spiked this time. Later on she felt hungry and asked if there was something to eat. Baron once again fulfilled her request by bringing her a bowl of peanuts; the only kind of food he could find in the biker bar. And when the sun went down, the biker left the bar, came back about half an hour later and presented Sara with her dinner for tonight; a cheeseburger with bacon from Burger Benny.

'This is what you humans enjoy eating, right?' Baron had asked when he tossed the in thin paper wrapped burger onto his prisoner's lap. Little did Sara know that Baron actually paid for the food with the money he had snatched out of the wallet of one of Elias' victims... he had made sure to get rid of the corpses by burning them all behind the building. 'If you feel strong enough, you can leave your bed if you want. You're free to go everywhere... but remember what I said. Don't try to escape, or else I'll make sure you will suffer the consequences.'

While she followed a diet of water, peanuts and cheeseburgers with bacon for the past three days, Sara wondered if the police were already searching for her. Someone must've noticed that she was missing, right? Did her boss notice that she didn't show up for work for three days straight and feel like there was something horribly wrong? Did he know that she was going to Mandy's party? Jesus, Sara never thought that her boss, the man who treated her like a doormat every single day, would be her only hope. She had hold onto that hope for three days, but when she still didn't see a squad of police officers arriving at Lucky Thirteen, she decided to let go of that pathetic hope.

But then again... it didn't surprise her that nobody came to help her.

Today was the third day and Sara finally felt strong enough to leave her bed and go downstairs. Her legs still felt a bit wobbly, but she felt otherwise fine. She firmly held onto the banister when she descended down to the first floor of Lucky Thirteen. When she looked around, she quickly realized that she had been held captive in a biker bar this entire time. Sara couldn't help but wonder why there wasn't anybody there while she continued to walk down the stairs. The interior didn't really look that old or anything, so this wasn't the kind of bar that had been shut down for a long time. Where was the bartender? Where were the guests? But all of those thoughts took a backseat when Sara noticed a strange substance almost entirely covering the door and the windows; a few thin beams of sunlight had found their access to shine through the windows and became the only sources of light in the dimly-lit bar. Upon closer inspection, Sara saw that the substance resembled black ice, maybe even frozen ink. And it was indeed frozen ink, judging by the jagged streaks of blue and red. It looked so thick, it wouldn't even break if you would smash a chair against it. A shiver ran up Sara's spine. She decided not to touch the ink, God knows what it would do to her if that would happen. Would it swallow her up? Freeze her? Maybe eve rip off her arm? Sara didn't want to know. Either way, escaping by going through the door was out of question now.

She found the light switch and flipped it; the lighting in the biker bar become more bearable. Looking at the bar, Sara saw a small TV on one of the three planks, put between numerous half-empty bottles of alcoholic drinks. It looked old and small, but hey, it was a TV nonetheless and Sara could use some entertainment. She walked to the bar, sat down and searched for the remote control; she found it right next to the beer tap. She pressed the red button and the TV was immediately switched on, showing the intro of a news channel. The news! Maybe there was information about her, maybe she had been reported missing after all! Sara focused on nothing else but the anchorman appearing on the screen.

'Good morning, this is the news of eleven o'clock, presented to you by Byron Saxton.' the anchorman said with his trademark friendly smile. 'Due to the lack of witnesses, the police still don't have any clues that could lead to the culprit who is responsible for the violent deaths of a group of partygoers who have been found dead in a house in the suburb area of Levesque City. Detective Dolph Ziggler still urges witnesses to come forward and help the police out with this grisly case. Most of the dead bodies have been identified and their families have been contacted. In the meanwhile, the police still search as hard as they can for evidence, all in order to catch the culprit and give the families of the victims justice. It has been heavily speculated that there were no survivors of this massacre, since the front door had been blocked with a strange substance that 'strongly resembled black ice', to quote Detective Dolph Ziggler. The police have released the statement that the blockage made it nearly impossible for them to enter the crime scene until a chainsaw was used.'

Sara could feel her heart sinking to her feet when the crime scene was showed; it was Mandy's house, with the front door sealed shut by yellow tape. Strings of police tape was seen everywhere. Oh God... so that's why Mandy was screaming... everyone was being murdered by that biker while Sara was lying knocked out cold on the bed. And nobody could escape because that bastard had blocked the exit with that strange frozen ink.

It was him... he was the murderer they were looking for!

'I see that you're finally up.'

Sara loudly gasped and turned around. Baron was standing behind her, not showing one bit of emotion on his face. Shit, where the hell did he come from?! Sara was convinced that the biker bar was empty when she came downstairs, then how? Was he even... human? But Sara didn't bother to think about that for a second longer.

'It was you, wasn't it?' she said with a soft voice, pointing at the TV. 'You murdered all those people in that house that night! How could you?! Those people had families, you have ruined all of their lives! That's so fucking heartless!'

The right corner of Baron's mouth curled into a mocking smirk and he let out a scoff. 'Seriously? Why do you even care? Did you even know these people? Think about it, Sara. Those people didn't give a shit about you and you know that. If they cared enough about you, they would've done something to stop that guy from raping you, right? And what did they do? That's right: absolutely fucking nothing. If I hadn't been there to save you, nobody would have. They didn't care about you, so why should you care about them or their families?'

'But...' Sara searched for words to say back, but couldn't find anything... because what Baron said was true. There were so many people around her when she tried to escape from the party, everyone saw that she was obviously drugged... but nobody helped her. It was true; she meant nothing to them, that's why they didn't want to help her.

Baron saw it clearly, there was no mistake about it; the blue aura in her chest had just grown a bit bigger and was even flickering for a few seconds. Good, this is what he wanted to see. Sweet bitterness and nothing else. While he stared at her chest, he suddenly saw something on Sara's right arm that caught his attention. A thin, white line, four centimeters long, ran down her tanned upper arm. A scar. Baron could swear that he saw a hint of the blue aura surrounding the scar. The ink demon almost wanted to grin, but he controlled himself.

'How did you get that scar?' he asked.

Sara glanced at her arm and immediately could feel her heart cringe. Oh no, he must've seen it, goddamn it... No matter how old she would become, that damn scar would always remind her of her past, the past that she was trying so hard to escape from. She could try and run away from it all she wanted, but that scar would always be there to permanently haunt her and mercilessly taunt her. Biting her lower lip, she covered the white line with her hand.

'I... Sorry, I don't want to talk about it. I really don't.' she muttered and shook her head.

'Oh come, you can tell me about it, Sara. It's just the two of us here, you don't have to be afraid of telling someone else...'

'No! Are you fucking deaf?!' Sara suddenly shouted angrily. 'I told you, I don't want to talk about it! I won't tell you! Shut the hell up and leave me alone, you stupid prick!'

Seething with anger, Sara stormed past the ink demon and went back upstairs. A few seconds later, the sound of the bedroom door loudly slamming shut could be heard. But Baron wasn't bothered for one bit by the angry words of his prisoner, oh no, on the contrary... he was glad. Really glad.

It looked like he had found a weak spot of that bitch... and it was definitely connected to the bitterness she held in her heart.


	18. Don't Trust Strangers

**Chapter 18**

 **Don't Trust Strangers**

Like many children, Joelle didn't look forward to go to school when she woke up that Monday morning. Not that she had trouble with bullies or the teachers or anything, she just wished that the weekend could be extended with one more day... or maybe even with a hundred more days, which looked absolutely perfect in her childlike mind. No more school, only fun and nothing else! How great would it be if she would be able to spend all her days having fun with her daddy? Organizing tea parties, visiting to the park, watching cartoons, eating ice cream together at the Italian ice cream parlour near the cinema on Flair Street... Joelle could already imagine it all. Those were all the things she wanted to do with her daddy, she knew those activities made her daddy happy as well. Sure, Joelle loved her mother as well, she loved her just as much as her father, but her mother barely had any time for her due to her work; they would only see each other at dinner time and in the morning. There were children at school who would be picked up their mothers, which often made Joelle feel a little bit sad. Her mommy had picked her up from school maybe two times, which was only because she felt sick on those days and had to cancel work because of that. But thankfully there was her daddy, her hero, to give her all the love and attention a child needed.

Yes, Roman would remain a hero in Joelle's eyes for as long as she would live, she was pretty sure about that... but last Friday, when he picked her up from school and surprised her with a trip to the park, he actually scared her a lot.

She could remember every detail of the incident in the park and she thought about it during break time. Joelle sat down on one of the swings and stared at the sky. A little less than a week to go and the summer holidays would begin, something she really looked forward to. Then she would have all the time in the world to have fun with her daddy, maybe even with her mommy; hopefully she could get a couple of weeks off from work, that would be nice. Joelle promised herself not to do anything to anger her daddy anymore, because holy cow, he scared her so much at the park on Friday... staring at the sky, Joelle remembered everything.

Finn was an incredibly nice guy, she didn't sense anything in his aura that confirmed that he was malevolent in some kind of way. He believed her when she told him that she had the talent to see those strange colors around humans, he saw them as well. It made Joelle happy to know that she wasn't the only person in this world who could see auras. Yes, she was a little bit afraid of him at first when she saw his unusual aura, but he looked so sad... the urge to comfort him overlapped the fright and she finally found the courage to go and talk to him. It felt so good to see him become happier when she talked to him, she could see the blue spots in his aura disappearing in thin air during their conversation. Maybe he would feel even better if she would read him her favorite story, that's why she decided to read him ' _Alice's Adventures In Wonderland_ '.

And that's when her father furiously yelled at her to get away from Finn. Joelle could see his aura when he was walking towards them and for a moment she didn't know what scared her more; her father's rage or the combination of red, orange and yellow that surrounded him, making him look like he was on fire. And Joelle had to admit, she did think that her father was indeed on fire for a split second, but then she quickly realized that the flame-like aura actually represented his rage. Her daddy wanted to hit Finn, he wanted to hurt him really badly, but he hadn't done anything to harm her; that's why Joelle begged her father to not hurt Finn. Her heart almost cringed in relief when he gave into her hysterical request, but it didn't do anything to make him less angry. He had grabbed her arm and practically dragged her out of the park. At home, her father gave her a long, angry lecture about the dangers of talking to strangers. He told her mother about what happened when she came home from work and she became just as angry as him; as a punishment, Joelle had to go to bed immediately after dinner.

Not only did she feel guilty about making her parents mad, but she also felt super sad when she found out that she had left her book at the park. Joelle had told her father about this, he told her that they would buy a new copy but told her to be more careful with her stuff afterwards. Joelle would read bits of her book every day at school during lunch break, so it was logical that she was a bit bored during today's lunch break; she hoped that she and her daddy would visit the book store as soon as possible.

School was finally out. Joelle walked towards the gate, assuming that her father would be standing there. But when she got closer, she slightly frowned in wonder... she couldn't see her father. A few parents left with their children, Joelle hoped that her father would be standing behind them, but much to her surprise, he wasn't there. The little girl looked left and right, still hoping to catch a glimpse of her beloved daddy, even if it was just a small one, just to show her that he hadn't forgotten about picking her up from school... but that bit of hope was thrown out of the window when Joelle still couldn't see him anywhere. A tiny knot could be felt in the pits of her stomach as her worry grew. What was going on here? Where was he? Could it be that... he had forgotten about her? No, that couldn't be, he wasn't like that, he would never forget about picking her up... right? Looking around, Joelle slightly bit her lower lip. 'Come on daddy, where are you...?' she muttered.

'Hello there, Joelle!' an unfamiliar, friendly voice suddenly said.

The little girl surprised a gasp of surprise just in time. She turned around and saw a man she had never seen before. He looked like he was in his early thirties, he had short brown hair and a pair of sky blue eyes, having similar features as Finn, but it wasn't him. The man knelt down and smiled at Joelle from ear to ear; perhaps he could feel that she was confused, maybe a little bit at unease.

'Um... hello.' Joelle replied. 'Who are you? And how do you know my name?'

The friendly-looking man chuckled. 'I already had the feeling you would react like that. No needs to worry, sweetie. I'm a friend of your daddy. He called me, he isn't feeling very well and he asked me to pick you up.'

'Oh... really?'

Her father's 'friend' nodded, his smile not leaving his face for a second. 'Yup, really. I'm not a stranger, you don't have to be scared. Your daddy knows me very well, you can trust me.'

And it looked like he was speaking the truth, judging by his aura. Joelle could clearly see it. The man was surrounded by a bright yellow glow with little pink spots in it, which eased her doubts. She could see nothing that pointed out that he was lying, or else she would've seen it for sure. Joelle had the strong feeling that she could trust this man, yes, she was confident about leaving with him. Someone with such a pleasant aura couldn't be a bad person. She knew that her father had quite some friends, he would only tell them about his family. And this man knew her name, so there was no doubt that he was a friend of her father.

Joelle smiled back at the 'friend' and nodded. 'Okay then!'

The man stood up and clapped one time in his hands. 'Wonderful! Let's go, sweetheart! I bet your father will be really happy to see you, maybe he will feel better when you come home!'

'I hope so.' Joelle replied as they began to walk away from the school. 'I hope he will feel good enough to eat a bit, I know how much he loves my mom's cooking.'

As they approached an orange van decorated with stars, Joelle unfortunately didn't notice the sinister grin on the face of the 'friend' of her dear daddy...

* * *

Oh damn, how could he be so stupid?!

Roman dearly hoped from the bottom of his heart that his daughter didn't have to wait for too long when he rushed to her school. The angel could already imagine Joelle waiting at the school's gate, wondering where the hell her father was. Would she be mad at him for being late? Roman believed that she had the right to be so; he had never been this late to pick her up.

He hadn't slept well at all these past nights, he was still that mad about the encounter his daughter had with that abomination at the city park. God knows what that bastard could've done to her if he hadn't noticed them in time, just thinking about the possibilities made the angel's blood boil. He remembered that he had sworn to kill him when he had defeated him at the end of their first fight and if Joelle hadn't been there to beg him to not hurt him, he would've gladly punched a hole through that fucker's head with his gauntlet. The only reason why he didn't kill him was to spare his daughter of witnessing the gruesome violence, that's why he didn't do it. But he swore to God that if he would ever encounter that freak again, he wouldn't have another chance of mercy. However, the angel did finally find out about his name.

Finn... that son of a bitch's name was Finn.

But it wasn't only the anger who kept him awake at night; the guilt that lingered in him wouldn't allow him to fall asleep. How could he have been so irresponsible? He should've been watching Joelle, even if he was talking to Dean on the phone! Roman already couldn't forgive himself for the deaths of his comrades back in the Angel Realm, but if something were to happen with the little girl he loved more than life itself... then he would never be able to live with himself. He would've failed at being a good father and Galina would despise him forever.

Roman remembered lying down on the couch after lunch and feeling his eyelids becoming heavy due to the lack of proper sleep. A little nap won't harm, he thought. But by the time he woke up again, the angel saw that he was already ten minutes late. He swore to God that he had never left his house that fast; he was sure that Dean would laugh his ass off if he would tell him this.

He spotted Joelle's school in the distance, a few kids were still there along with the teacher, Ms. Garcia. Roman expected to immediately see his daughter as soon as he would reach the gate... but when he finally stood in front of the gate, Joelle wasn't amongst those kids. The angel slightly frowned in confusion. Where was she?

'Oh, Mr. Reigns!' Ms. Garcia said. 'Are you looking for Joelle?'

'Yes, I am. Where is she?'

'Joelle has already left. A man who said that he was a friend of yours has picked her up.'

All the sounds of the world around Roman ceased to exist as he could feel his blood freeze. His stomach dropped to his feet in the blink of an eye.

'What... did you say?' the angel asked, barely hearing his own voice.

'She has left with a friend of yours, she looked comfortable around him. I didn't really think too much of it because of-'

But Roman didn't give Ms. Garcia the chance to let her finish speaking. He walked away from her and took his cell phone out of his pocket. His fingers were trembling uncontrollably when he dialed Dean's number, he could barely press the buttons. He pressed the green button and held his cell phone against his ear; only now he realized how panicked and loud his breathing sounded. The following three seconds felt like an eternity to him.

'Hey, Ro!' Dean said on the other side of the line. 'Did you finally find that freak who-'

'Dean! Did you pick Joelle up from school?!' Roman shouted back, his voice nearly trembling with pure panic.

'Um... what?'

'Did you pick Joelle up from school, Dean?! Please tell me that you fucking did!'

'Roman... I swear, I didn't pick her up, I'm at home. Why are you asking? Ro? Roman? What the hell is going on? Hello?'

As his mouth became ungodly dry, his heart started to beat three times faster than usual and the world around him almost seemed like it was spinning, Roman's worst nightmare began to unfold in front of his eyes.

Someone had taken Joelle.


	19. Find Me

**Chapter 19**

 **Find Me**

'Hey Finn! You'd better not burn anything in that kitchen!' Paige jokingly said with a playful smile on her face. She was lying on the couch and watching TV, she could smell the cooked rice and vegetables and hear the occasional crackling of olive oil. The female demon knew that her tenant was cooking up something delicious and he was clearly trying his best not to burn the food, but Paige couldn't help but crack a little joke about it; the last time Finn had cooked dinner for himself, a thin cloud of dark grey smoke made it nearly impossible to breathe in the apartment. 'If you burn down the kitchen, I'll lay a curse on you!'

'Oh? And what kind of curse might that be then?' Finn replied; of course he knew that the demon witch didn't mean this, he knew that she cared too much about him to curse him.

'I'll...' Paige paused for a moment to think of which 'curse' would be most fitting. 'I'll... make you work in my shop for all eternity! You will sweep the floors, dress up mannequins and serve the customers until you drop dead!'

A hearty laugh could be heard from the kitchen. 'Oh my good God, the horror!' Finn exclaimed in staged fright. 'Please Paige, anythin' but that! Anythin' but working in your shop! Show some mercy!'

'Don't worry, I'll be a merciful demon witch... that is, if you don't burn down my bloody kitchen.'

The demon hunter sniggered when he stirred the large wooden spoon in the wok. Maybe he could add a scrambled egg to the rice to make it more delicious, who knows, maybe Paige would like it as well. It felt good to hear Paige being herself again after her nearly fatal ordeal. The three days had passed and the wound was neatly healed thanks to the healing potion, but the female demon would forever have a tiny scar on her leg, a permanent reminder of the night where she was on the brink of death. After the wound had healed, Paige felt confident enough to start working in The Pentagram again. Finn had to be honest; he felt kind of relieved that she was able to work again, working alone really tired him out at the end of the day. But after two hours or so, Paige had to sit down due to the nagging pain that still lingered in her leg. She had reassured the demon hunter that she was okay, that she would get through the day, but Finn wouldn't allow her to work any longer for today. He wanted her to go upstairs and rest, he would take care of the shop. Even though Paige had protested against this, but Finn remained persistent; realizing that there was no way to convince him otherwise, the demon witch went back to the apartment and stayed there until The Pentagram was closed.

'How's yer leg holdin' up?' the demon hunter while he stirred the delicious food once more. 'Is it still achin'?'

Paige glanced down at her leg and shrugged, slightly pouting. 'Eh, I can't complain.' she replied. 'I guess it will be better by tomorrow, at least, that's what I hope. Or else I might drink that potion again. I have to say... it feels really weird to not do anything after I've been working for so long. It... kind of sucks, actually. It makes me feel useless.'

'Paige, don't beat yerself up about it.' Finn said. 'Ya should give yerself the time to heal. Yer body will suffer only more if ya keep workin'. Trust me, it's better for ya to rest some more. And believe me, ye're anythin' but useless. Just because ya can't do anythin' for a while doesn't mean that ye're useless. Ya need time to get better, there's nothin' wrong with that. Don't ever think like that again, okay Paige?'

Hearing the demon hunter's comforting words made the demon witch feel a bit better about herself. He was right... she didn't have to feel useless for not being able to run her store for a couple of days. It would be terrible to work with the constant pain in her leg, she should grant herself some time to recover. Then everything would go back to normal. Paige sighed and smiled. 'Yeah... thanks, Finn.' Staring at the TV screen (which was showing a commercial about a new brand of car), she suddenly remembered something. 'How's your investigation of Baron coming along? You got any new leads?'

Finn shook his head. He hadn't even thought about it anymore, he had felt the urge to stay in the apartment at night in case Paige needed him; her health was the most important thing to him at that time. 'No, unfortunately not. But I'm thinkin' of goin' out to night to see if I can find somethin'.'

The demon hunter took a spoonful of the rice with vegetables and tasted it. Yup, dinner was ready alright. 'I don't think ya can lay a curse on me anymore, Paige!' he said while turning the furnace off. 'Are ya sure ya don't want a plate? It's really good!'

'Um...'

But before the female demon could reply, the intro of the news started to play on TV. Byron Saxton, the anchorman everyone would see on every live broadcast, appeared on the screen. But all the watchers would quickly realize that there was something different about him; he didn't have the usual friendly grin on his face.

'This is the news of six o'clock, presented to you by Byron Saxton.' the anchorman said. 'The police wants the help of everyone who lives in Levesque City and in the surrounding area. An AMBER Alert has gone out for eight-year old Joelle Reigns. The girl has most likely been abducted when she came out of school. Joelle has a tanned skin, brunette hair tied in two braids...'

As soon as Finn heard the little girl's name, he dropped the wooden spoon to the ground and rushed to the living room with a sickening feeling in his stomach. As soon as his eyes met the TV screen, his fear was confirmed. A photo of Joelle, a class photo, was shown for thousands of viewers to see in the hope of someone looking out for this girl. It was her, without a doubt. The demon hunter's hands began to tremble as he stared at the photo of Joelle, who was smiling from ear to ear, not realizing that one day there would be an AMBER Alert going out for her on TV.

'My God...' the demon hunter said with a hoarse voice. 'I know her!'

'Wait, what? You do?' Paige asked, looking up. 'How?'

'When I went to buy groceries on Friday, I went to the park to relax a bit. I met her there, she talked to me and... she read me a story. Oh my fuckin' God, no... I... I have to find her, Paige! Jesus Christ, I have to find her before it's too late!'

'Hold on a minute, let me think. Do you... have anything that belongs to her by any chance? I think I have a plan!'

Finn feverishly tried to remember, but suddenly a memory went through his mind like a flash. Of course! The book!

'Yeah, I-I do! Wait, I'll go get it!'

The demon hunter rushed to his bedroom, where he had put Joelle's book on the desk next to his unfinished Lego pirate ship. He grabbed the book, ran back to the living room and presented it to Paige. 'She had forgotten this at the park. I took it with me in case I would ever run into her again.'

'That's good. Quick, give it to me!'

Finn handed over the book with a trembling hand. Holding the book, Paige closed her eyes and slowly breathed out, as if she was concentrating on something. Then she started to barely audibly mumble in a strange language, it was the ancient language that all demons once spoke hundreds of years ago. Finn immediately knew what she was doing; she was putting her demonic powers to use. After mumbling a few incoherent sentences, the demon witch opened her eyes and gave the book back to him. Upon touching it, Finn felt a slight vibration in the center of the book... as if it was containing life.

'There, I put a spell on it. Now the book will guide you to its owner. The closer you get to her, the more it will tremble. I can go with you if you-'

'No, ye're stayin' here! Ye're not comin' with me anymore, not after what Alberto... Never mind, there's no time! I have to go!'

Finn turned around and ran to the door, quickly putting on his shoes before he stormed out of the apartment. Paige listened as rapid footsteps ascended down the stairs, followed by the door of her store opening and slamming shut; she hoped from the bottom of her heart that Finn would find that girl in time.

'Hang in there, Joelle...!' the demon hunter whispered between his ragged panting, focusing on the vibration in the book as he ran down the street. 'Wherever ya are, please... hang in there!'

* * *

No matter how hard she would scream, the piece of duct tape that covered her mouth would muffle all of her screams anyway. She had tried to peel off the duct tape that bound her hands together behind her back and wiggle her legs out of the duct tape that bound her ankles uncomfortably close together, but all of her attempts were proven to be futile.

Joelle had once heard from a mother who had picked up her classmate from school one day (the classmate had told her mother in tears that she had failed for a test that the whole class had to make) that big girls don't cry. Her father had always told her that she was a big girl. Joelle always felt proud of herself whenever he told her that, but now, much to her shame, she couldn't stop crying in fear for hours. She had never felt this small before in her life, so helpless. She knew that nobody could've heard her screams, even if someone was nearby. The sun was going down, but she was already cold; the freezing, moldy, concrete floor she was lying on was no help at all.

How could someone with such a cheerful aura do this? Joelle didn't understand one bit of it. She couldn't sense anything in his aura that could foretell that he was going to take her to this place, tie her up in duct tape and leave her there for a long while. Three hours had passed since that 'friend' of her father had picked her up from school, but to Joelle, it felt like she had been held captive for centuries.

She hadn't felt any doubt when she stepped into that van, not a shred of fear when they drove off. While she looked at the world behind the van's window passing her by, Joelle had hummed a tune of one of her favorite cartoons and expected the 'friend' to drop her off at her home. Once that would happen, she would do her absolute best to make her daddy feel better. But when they drove past the neighborhood she lived in, Joelle felt like there was something... wrong. She had told her father's 'friend' that he had missed that turn, but he didn't respond. At first she thought he hadn't heard her, but when she told him again that he had missed the turn, he snarled at her to shut up. Completely shocked, Joelle immediately fell silent. She started to feel more uncomfortable by the second when they continued driving. She wanted to get off, now. When they stopped in front of a traffic light, she tried to open her door, but much to her horror, it was locked. That's when she felt the 'friend's' hot breath on her shoulder.

'If you dare to scream, I will kill you, got it?' he had whispered. Joelle would never forget the cold, nearly painful chill that ran up her spine.

They drove to an abandoned factory near a canal. Once he had parked the van, her kidnapper got out, opened the door on Joelle's side and dragged her out. Now realizing that this man was no friend of her father, Joelle almost wanted to vomit with fear when she looked around; there was nobody there. Nobody who could save her from her kidnapper.

'Not one little squeak.' her kidnapper hissed. 'Or I will slit your throat.'

Inside the factory, a kingdom of dust, mold and old machines, the terrified little girl still didn't have the courage to scream for help; the death threats had worked efficiently on her. She felt a rough hand in her neck, pushing her to the floor. She wanted to fight back when her kidnapper got on top of her, but her limbs were paralyzed with fear. He pulled out a roll of duct tape from his pocket, ripped off a piece with his teeth and put the strip on Joelle's mouth, preventing her from screaming. He bound her legs and arms together, making absolutely sure that she wouldn't escape. Once he was done, he softly chuckled and stood up, admiring his work.

'Now you be a good girl and lay perfectly still, okay? Uncle Stardust will be back soon... and then we will have a lot of fun together.' Then he left, leaving the helpless little girl on the cold factory floor for three hours.

While tears rolled down her cheeks, Joelle thought of her parents. What was happening to them right now? They must be worried sick for sure. Were they crying? The thought of her parents sitting in the living room, crying their eyes out and having no idea where she was, made more tears roll down her cheeks. She felt incredibly guilty, so dumb, for going with a stranger. Her daddy had warned her of the dangers of talking to strangers after that incident in the park, she felt like she had disappointed him. He was going to be so mad at her when she would come home... well... if she would come home.

All that poor little Joelle could do was to hope that someone would find her before her kidnapper would come back.

A van just stopped in front of the factory, she could clearly hear it. Was it maybe a police van? Did they find her? For the first time in three hours, Joelle felt that pleasant spark of hope... but that hope was cruelly crushed into dust when the big front door of the factory opened and revealed the visitor.

It was him. The kidnapper. And he had undergone quite a twisted transformation. Looking at his new appearance frightened Joelle even more; he looked barely like a normal human being. His face was covered in white paint, with a black star painted in the center of his face. His lips were covered in a layer of black lipstick. His eyes were orange, he must be wearing colored contact lenses. He was wearing a black leather body suit, adorned with small orange stars and he was wearing orange boots, along with orange gloves. The strange creature was carrying a big, old suitcase. When he laid his eyes upon his terrified victim, the freak grinned from ear to ear, nearly revealing his gums. He shut the door and locked it before focusing on Joelle once more.

'Greetings, little earthling.' he said with a strange, high-pitched voice; that voice would forever haunt all of Joelle's future nightmares. 'I am Stardust... and I have come all the way from the fifth dimension with the desire to torture and kill a little shit like you!' Those last seven words were said with a low growl.

He's crazy, Joelle realized in the blink of an eye. This man was absolutely insane! A horrified whimper could be heard from behind the tape, which made Stardust giggle; her fright was his entertainment.

'You see, little pathetic earthling...' he spoke, changing his voice back into that eerie, cartoonish voice. 'I have always wanted to make a child suffer pain beyond imagination, make them scream at the top of their lungs, frighten them to the point where they piss themselves. I have seen you and your daddy when you came out of school a few times, I saw how happy he was with you, I saw how happy you were, and then I thought: 'Just the right victim for me.'. Imagining wiping that smile off of your face, replacing your laughter with crying and screams, cutting your little body open and smell your fresh blood... oh, that delight was out of this world! And now I finally got you for myself, little Joelle! We are going to have so much fun together, oh yes!'

Stardust put down the suitcase and zipped it open, revealing an assortment of horrors. Knives, hammers, pliers, a rusty saw, electricity cords, even a bottle of bleach. He was going to use that all on her, Joelle realized in pure horror. He was going to use all of those instruments on her until she would die!

Stardust knelt down and retrieved a hammer and a pair of pliers. 'Now, because you have been such a good girl and kept your mouth shut the entire time, I will let you choose which tool we will start with. Do you want me to knock your teeth out one by one or shall I rip your tongue out? Oh, what was that? You want me to use the plier first? Well, Joelle! You have an excellent taste! Okidoki then, here were go! It's okay if you want to scream, nobody will hear you anyway. And to me... it sounds like music to my ears!'

The galactic psycho put the hammer back in the suitcase. Holding the pliers in his hand, he walked towards Joelle, whose eyes were widened with pure horror and tried in a desperate attempt to move away. He knelt down next to her and pulled the piece of duct tape off of her mouth with one yank, earning a shriek of pain. Tears welled up in the corners of Joelle's eyes.

'No, please... stop it!' she whimpered. 'Stop it!'

'Come on now you little bitch, if I would do that it wouldn't be any fun for me, now would it? Hold still! The fun is about to begin!'

Stardust roughly grabbed the little girl's jaw, forcing her mouth to be opened. Powerless in his grip, feeling the tips of the pliers squeezing the tip of her tongue and with panic crashing over her like an avalanche, Joelle let out the loudest scream she ever produced in her entire life.

Something was forcing their way out of her back... she could clearly feel it.

It all happened in the blink of an eye, she could barely feel any pain. In fact, whatever grew out of her back, gave her the feeling that she could move them. They came out on two spots on her back, each of them underneath a shoulder blade. There was the sound of what sounded like... rustling of feathers. Whatever those things were, they were more than enough to startle the hell out of Stardust. The tips of the pliers lost their grip on her tongue, the tool was dropped to the ground when the psycho let out a loud gasp and scooted away from the little girl until his back touched one of the large, dusty machines that still resided in the factory.

Now he was the one who was frightened beyond belief.

A pair of large wings with snow white feathers had emerged from Joelle's back; the signature look of an angel.

'What the... What the fuck are you?!' Stardust screamed in disbelief.

But it looked like even Joelle didn't have the slightest clue. She managed to move her right wing into her sight and let out a very soft gasp when she laid eyes upon the feathers. But her gasp wasn't one of fear; it was one of amazement.

But Stardust was everything but amazed at the sudden revelation of Joelle's true nature. He ran towards the suitcase, retrieved the hammer and ran back to his victim. 'You little freak!' he exclaimed with a hoarse voice. 'Never mind all of this! I will kill you right away!' He raised the hammer in the air, ready to deliver the fatal blow...

But thankfully that would never happen.

The front door of the factory was immediately turned into a useless piece of scrap metal when it was punched out of its frame, flying through the factory and crashing to the ground with a loud bang. Rapid footsteps followed, heading towards the frightened psycho, who was greeted with a pitch black, claw-like hand clenching around his throat. Before he could react, he was flung to the other side of the factory, sending him crashing against the wall. Somewhere in the distance, the hammer fell down to the ground.

Joelle had clenched her eyes shut when she thought the hammer was going to come down, but when she felt that nothing had happened, she slowly opened them. Looking at her savior, she dared to fully open her eyes and gasp in surprise.

'Finn!' she exclaimed.

So she truly is a daughter of Roman... Finn couldn't help but stare in wonder at Joelle's newly-grown pair of angel wings. She looked unharmed, he couldn't see a speck of blood or anything that indicated an injury on her. Thank God, he had arrived just in time. But there was no time to stare at her wings for a little longer; he heard a weak groan coming from the back of the factory.

'Joelle... ya'd better close yer eyes for a moment, sweetie. This is goin' to get ugly.'

Without waiting for an answer, Finn turned around and ran to the direction where that groan came from. Oh yes, this was going to get ugly; very ugly. When he finally reached Stardust, who was lying on the floor like a ragdoll, he couldn't sense any demonic aura around him. Jesus Christ, it was a human. He had expected a demon to be behind Joelle's kidnapping, hell, maybe even an angel, but it turned out that it was a goddamn human.

Sometimes a human could be so much worse than a demon.

Stardust felt the same claws clenching around his throat again, lifting him up in the air. When he opened his eyes, he could feel his heart dropping to his feet. A whimper of fear escaped past his trembling lips. He was convinced that the punch had send him straight to Hell... because the Devil was staring right back at him. Thick, black cracks nearly covered Finn's entire face. His eyes were completely white, as if he was blind, maybe even blinded by the murderous rage he was now feeling. His mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth, some of them were dripping with saliva. Stardust let out another whimper and scratched the claw that felt like iron, but when he realized that there was no escape and that he was going to pay for making the choice to kidnap and try to torture Joelle, he let out a horrified scream.

That was the signal for Finn to drive his entire fist through Stardust's face with all the strength he had. His skull shattered into pieces, blood splattered on the wall and floor along with bone chips and pieces of brains. The psycho's body twitched a few times before it laid still, the mouth was forever frozen in a silent scream. Finn slowly pulled his arm out, leaving a huge, gaping hole in Stardust head. Then he dropped his body to the floor, causing a loud thud to echo through the factory.

The demon hunter turned around and ran back to Joelle, wanting to make absolutely sure that she was unharmed; while he ran back, he felt his inner demon coming to rest, retreating back into his chest. The little girl was still on her place with her eyes tightly shut.

'Joelle...' Finn said, kneeling down to her. 'Are ya okay, lass? Did that man hurt ya?' He began to tear off the duct tape from her limbs, freeing her at last from her uncomfortable bindings. The little girl opened her eyes and saw the face of the sad man she had met in the park; upon realizing that she was saved, tears welled up in her eyes.

'Finn...' she sobbed.

She sat up on her knees, wrapped her arms around the demon hunter's neck and buried her face against his shoulder. Her upper body rhythmically jolted when she cried, her tears staining his t-shirt. Finn laid one arm around her waist, not wanting to soak her clothes with blood with his other arm, pulling her in for a comforting hug.

'It's okay now, lass. It's over. That bad man can't harm you anymore. I'm goin' to bring ya home. Everythin's okay, sweetheart...'

And while the little girl continued to cry, Finn saw her angel wings slowly retreating into her back.

* * *

'Is this the street ya live in?' Finn asked.

'Yeah, my home is right here.' Joelle mumbled, pointing at one of the houses.

The sun had finally gone done at the time that Finn and Joelle had arrived at the street the little girl lived in, coloring the sky in a very dark shade of blue. They had watched the lampposts on their way back switch on in the blink of an eye, which made a walk in the dark a whole lot more pleasant for Joelle. Not for one split second she let go of the demon hunter's hand during the walk, as if she was afraid that Stardust might have followed them and yank her into the darkness as soon as she would let go of Finn's hand. But when they got closer to her home, it slowly sank into her that she was safe. If anything would happen to her, Finn would rescue her again; with that thought in her mind, she felt a lot more calmer.

After nearly forty-five minutes of walking, Finn and Joelle had finally arrived at their destination.

The demon hunter knelt down to the little girl's level and smiled at her. 'Well, this is it, lass. Ya better get goin', ya parents are probably worried sick about ya.'

Joelle slightly frowned in confusion. 'Aren't you coming with me, Finn?'

Finn shook his head. 'No, better not. I don't think yer father is goin' to be very happy when he sees me around ya.'

'How so?'

'Um... it's kind of complicated, I don't think ya will understand it. But come on now, ya have to go! But before ya leave... I still have somethin' to give ya.'

Joelle's eyes widened with surprise and smiled from ear to ear when she saw the demon hunter retrieving her book from his pocket. 'My book!' she exclaimed when he gave it to her. 'I thought I had lost it forever!'

'Ya had forgotten it back at the park. I had the feelin' that we would meet again one day, so... that's why I kept it with me.'

Joelle giggled when she wrapped her arms around Finn's waist, pulling him in for another hug. 'Thank you so much, Finn... thank you for everything! I'll never forget you, I promise!'

The demon hunter could feel tears burning in his eyes; nobody had ever made that promise to him before. 'I won't forget ya either, lass.'

Then Joelle let go of him and ran towards her house, looking over her shoulder a couple of times to see if Finn was still standing there. When she was just a few feet away from her home, Finn decided that it was time for him to leave.

Glancing at the large window in front of her house, Joelle saw her parents sitting on the couch, talking to what seemed to be police officers. She stood still and started waving her arms, trying to catch their attention. And much to her delight, it seemed to happen. Her father was looking so sad when he was talking to the police officer, but once he turned his head to see what was happening outside, his eyes immediately widened and she saw his mouth speaking her name. Now her mother noticed her as well, she looked just as surprised as her father. Both of them stood up and ran towards the door. Knowing that they would be waiting for her there, Joelle rushed towards the front door; she was just three steps away and the door opened with a swing, a second later her parents stormed outside.

'Mommy! Daddy!' Joelle exclaimed in joy.

'Joelle! Oh my God, my baby girl!' her father whispered with a hoarse voice, kneeling in front of her and immediately pulling her into a loving embrace. Her mother joined them and burst into tears, whispering over and over again: 'My baby is back, my baby is back, my baby is back...' They had no idea that the police officers were standing behind them in the doorway, clearly touched by the emotional reunion.

'Where were you, Joelle?' Roman whispered with tears in his eyes, running his hand over her head. 'Where have you been?'

'A man near the school gates told me that he was a friend of yours. But he was lying. He took me to a factory and wanted to do really bad things with me... but then Finn saved me!'

Roman looked at his daughter, his eyes expressing nothing more but shock and disbelief. 'What?'

'Finn! You know, that sad man in the park! He was the one who saved me!'

The angel had no idea which emotion was stronger; the intense relief or the unbelievable confusion.


	20. Sleepwalking

**Chapter 20**

 **Sleepwalking**

At first Sara tried her best to ignore the dry feeling in her mouth and go back to sleep, but as the minutes ticked by, her dry mouth become too hard to ignore for any longer. She didn't want to open her eyes, still hoping to drift off into sleep, but everything inside her was screaming at her to go downstairs and get a glass of water. Letting out a soft groan, Sara was forced to open her eyes. When she sat up, she could feel how dry her mouth actually was; her tongue was sticking against her palate. Damn it, she knew she had to drink some water before she went to sleep... Sara couldn't help but feel like such a stupid moron at this moment.

Hell, this wasn't the first time that she felt like a moron... she had felt like this for many times in her childhood.

After she rubbed her eyelids, Sara looked around for a moment and immediately remembered where she was. She was still in her bedroom, she was still trapped in the biker bar. She had secretly hoped that she would've woken up in a hotel room guarded by police officers, who had earlier on done a heroic act by saving her from Baron. They had somehow managed to destroy that strange black ice that had prevented her from escaping, incapacitate the tall biker, find her sleeping in the bedroom and taken her outside without waking her up. But that was all just imagination... of course they still hadn't found her. Were they even searching for her in the first place? Sara highly doubted that.

Letting out a yawn, Sara got out of her bed and walked to the door. Her legs didn't feel that weak anymore, she assumed that her body had finally forced out the last bits of the effects from the drug. It was night, she had no idea for how long she had been sleeping before her dry mouth woke her up. The only source of light in the bedroom was the moonlight shining through the window. Glancing through the window for a second, Sara saw that there was a full moon tonight. A full moon was always pretty to look at, but what she wanted to do the most at this moment was to get a glass of water. There was no glass in her room, so she had to go downstairs. Sara opened the door, walked through the corridor and headed down the stairs. If she had still been a little girl, she wouldn't have dared to go through the dark corridor alone, afraid that a monster would emerge from the darkness and grab her.

Sara knew that monsters do in fact exist, for she had seen them from up close.

Like she had expected, it was completely dark in the biker bar; only a few thin beams of moonlight had found their way through the frozen ink, but it was everything but enough to illuminate Lucky Thirteen. While her fingers searched for the light switch, Sara suddenly began hesitate. What if Baron was there, waiting for her? Would he think that she was trying to sneak out? The threat of the consequences being everything but pretty echoed through Sara's head, making her shiver. But there was only one way to find out if her jailer was actually downstairs... Holding her breath, Sara flipped the light switch on. The biker bar was immediately illuminated, casting out all darkness. Sara let out a sigh of relief; she thankfully couldn't see Baron anywhere. He was probably sleeping, at least, that's what she assumed.

Baron had angered her so much when he asked her about that damn scar on her arm. It felt like he was trying to pry her open like an oyster, trying to make her reveal what dark secret was hiding inside her. If he thought that she was going to tell him about it, he would be so wrong. Sara would never allow him to look inside her head for a second, she would do anything to keep him out. She didn't speak to him for the entire day, nor the next day; the same went for this day as well. He had offered her to play a round of billiard with him the day after she had told him off, the only reason why she accepted this was because she was bored out of her mind. She didn't speak a word to him while they took turns in shooting those small, colored, heavy balls into the holes of the pool table, no matter how friendly he sounded. After a couple of rounds, Sara went straight back upstairs and stayed in her room for the rest of the day. In an attempt to kill the boredom, she searched the bedroom for reading material and did find it underneath the bed; a pornographic magazine with questionable stains on the pages. As soon as she realized what the stains most likely were, Sara let out a shriek of disgust and threw the magazine through the room. After she had washed her hands five times in a row, Sara continued her search for reading material and this time she was luckier. Underneath one of the pillows of her bed, she found a book with probably more than 500 pages; ' _It_ ', from Stephen King. Horror wasn't really Sara's thing, but at least it was something and she was pretty sure she wasn't going to find anything else to read. But after reading for two and a half hours or so, Sara decided to stop reading to book for the rest of her captivity; it just brought back too many memories she would rather forget.

Behind the bar she searched for a clean glass and found one between some used glasses, all of them strongly reeked of alcohol. Did Baron use all those glasses? Jesus, it was like this guy couldn't drink anything else but beer... Sara shook her head in disapproval and filled her glass with water, from which she immediately took a big sip from as soon as it was full; the drought in her mouth disappeared like snow exposed to sunlight, much to her delight.

'So good...' she mumbled.

And then, when she looked around the bar, she could feel a chill running up her spine without any warning. Sara realized something, something nobody could have an answer for. How much longer was she going to stay here? How much longer before someone would finally realize that Sara Lee had been missing for days? When would the police find her? All those haunting questions, but no solid answers... Any normal customer who would visit Lucky Thirteen would see this place as the kind of place to have a good time, have a couple of beers, play some rounds at the pool table, maybe even engage in a full-on fist fight with a huge biker... but to Sara, Lucky Thirteen was nothing more but a prison to her.

A knot started to develop in the pits of her stomach, along with a rather unpleasant feeling that traveled its way up to her chest. Slightly biting on her lower lip, Sara knew exactly what was happening; she was getting nervous. And she had been nervous so many times in her life before, she had actually lost count on how many times she got nervous a long time ago. God, she hated it when she was feeling like this, she knew it would get only worse by the second. She needed to do something to calm herself down... and luckily she knew what to do.

She was all alone here, she didn't have to worry about Baron hearing her. Sara walked towards the stage and sat down on the edge, still holding the glass of water in her hand. Staring at the empty chairs and bar, she felt confident and safe enough to sing a song to herself; this had always helped to put her mind at ease. Now that she thought about it, she felt stupid for not doing during the last days. Sara closed her eyes and chose to sing a song that had been stuck in her head during the days before this entire goddamn mess happened. It was 'Sleepwalking' from the band Bring Me The Horizon.

'My secrets are burning a hole through my heart and my bones catch a fever... When it cuts you up this deep, it's hard to find a way to breathe...' Sara sang to herself with a soft voice. It was working, she could feel her nervousness becoming less worse. Now that she was singing those lyrics, she realized how eerily perfect they described her inner troubles. 'Your eyes are swallowing me, mirrors start to whisper, shadows start to sing... My skin is swallowing me, help me find a way to bre-'

Her singing was abruptly interrupted when someone in the bar started slowly clapping his hands. Sara was immediately snapped out of her soothing trance, she was caught so much by surprise that she nearly dropped her glass of water. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Baron sitting at the table that was the closest to the stage with a small smirk on his face. Wait... how the fuck did he get there?! Sara was absolutely sure that nobody was there while she was singing, she had only looked away for a second... In her mind it was confirmed to her that Baron was not human, that was impossible. But if he wasn't a human being, then what the hell was he?

'I didn't know you could sing...' Baron said, ignoring the slightly frightened look that was present on his prisoner's face. 'If you had done that earlier, this place would be a whole lot less fucking boring.'

Sara looked away and scoffed. 'Shut up.' she mumbled.

'Seriously, are you still pissed about that whole thing with your scar?' Baron asked.

'Uh, yeah, pretty much.' Sara snarled. 'I told you I didn't want to talk about it and you just kept asking. So are you really that surprised that I'm mad at you?'

'Hmm.'

For a little moment, they both didn't say anything. Sara refused to look at Baron, she couldn't stand looking at the face of the man who had not only tried to pry her open... but who also had taken the life she had tried to live away from her.

'How about we fix this with a good bottle of beer?' Baron suddenly asked.

Sara looked up and frowned in confusion. 'What?' Just then, she saw that there were two beer bottles on the table. Baron grabbed one of the bottles, took out his knife, shoved the tip of the blade underneath the bottle cap and popped it off, which produced a brief hissing noise. The ink demon took a big sip from the cold, bitter drink. After he swallowed it, he grabbed the other bottle and showed it to Sara, as if he wanted her to grab it.

'Do you want one? You look like you could really use it. Or else I will drink it, no problem.'

As if she was hypnotized by the beer bottle in his hand, Sara was heavily debating inside her head what was the best thing to do. What kind of prisoner would have a beer with her jailer? A prisoner who suffered from Stockholm syndrome, she thought. If she would accept the drink, she could give the biker the impression that she was willing to forgive him for everything and bond with him, which was absolutely not the case. He was the one who had kidnapped her, he was the one who had turned her into a damn prisoner. Sara was convinced that she didn't have Stockholm syndrome, she felt nothing that came close to forgiveness or friendship towards Baron. All she wanted was to be free...

But then again, after following a diet of peanuts, water and cheeseburgers with bacon, having a cold beer looked so damn tempting. And she unfortunately had to admit that Baron was right; she could really use a beer after all the shit that happened.

Fine then. But only for this time.

Sara put her glass of water on the edge of the stage, got off and joined Baron at the table. 'Hold on, I'll open it for you.' he said and proceeded to open her bottle the same way he did with his own. He handed it over to her. 'There you go.'

'Thanks.' Sara took a gulp of her beer; despite the bitter taste, it was so deliciously cold. It was so delightful that she closed her eyes for a little moment.

'See? Told you a beer would do you good.' Baron said, immediately taking another gulp from his beer.

Sara nodded. 'Yeah... I guess so.'

Little did she know that the beer was not exactly some kind of peace offering; she had no idea that she had just fallen for Baron's new trick. He knew what kind of effect alcohol had on human beings; let's see if this bitch would be more loose-lipped about her bitterness after she had a couple of beers. The sooner she would open up to him, the better. Baron could feel himself getting more and more impatient each day, he had to manipulate her as soon as possible.

'So... how do you like your stay so far at Casa La Lucky Thirteen?' the ink demon asked. He wasn't really the kind of person who felt like cracking jokes all the time, but maybe it could help easing up the plan. 'How many stars would you like to give this luxurious hotel?'

'Well...' Sara stared at the neck of her beer bottle, as if she was thinking about the answer. 'I'd say that... the room service is worth four stars at most. It's a shame that the host is a kidnapper and a total prick.'

'Come on now, why do you have to be like that, Sara? I thought we were going to have a good time together, you know, drinking some beers, talk about all kinds of bullshit... it's what humans do, right?'

Sara looked over her shoulder and glanced at the frozen ink that blocked the door and the windows. 'You're not a human, are you?' she asked; that question had been burning on her tongue for a while now.

Baron shook his head. 'I guess you have figured that out by now. I'll be honest with you. No, I'm not a human and I never have been. I'm a demon, Sara. An ink demon, to be more specific. Do you see that?' The biker pointed at the frozen ink. 'I did that. That stuff right there is the ink that comes from my tattoos. And yes, it's that same stuff I used back at that house, like you heard about on the news the other day.'

Any normal person would feel fear and disbelief if something like this was told to them, but Sara didn't feel anything. All it did was just confirm in her mind that her jailer was not a human being. 'Are there... more of you?' she asked.

Baron nodded. 'Oh yeah, you can count on that.'

Sara took another gulp of her beer and looked the ink demon straight in the eyes. 'So what are you planning on doing with me anyway? How much longer are you going to keep me here? Do you want to... hurt me, Baron?'

'Sara, for fuck's sake. If I wanted you to be hurt, I wouldn't have done anything to save you at that party. I would've let that bastard have his way with you, but I decided not to. Because I can't stand seeing a defenseless woman getting raped by a cowardly, drunk piece of shit like him. No. I chose to save you, unlike those others. If I hadn't been there, then what do you think would've happened to you? He could've probably killed you afterwards, I don't think he wanted to risk the possibility of rotting away in some fucking prison for the rest of his pathetic life. Think about it, Sara.'

Goose bumps appeared all over Sara's arms when she realized that he was right. On that night, she hadn't even thought about what could've happened to her afterwards if that guy had raped her. Yes, like Baron said, chances were that he would've killed her after he was done with her. She had heard about so many cases about women being strangled, stabbed or even beaten to death by their rapists, it wasn't unlikely that she was going to become one of those women if Baron hadn't interfered. And even if her attacker decided to let her live, she would forever be mentally, perhaps even physically scarred for life. She would vomit at the thought of sex, never allow a man to touch her and lose even more trust in humanity. Now that she thought about it... Baron had actually saved her from so many things that could've happened to her.

'Look, Baron... I'm really grateful for what you have done.' Sara said. 'I can't thank you enough for saving me from that guy, seriously. But... why are you keeping me here? I just want to go home, please...'

'Don't worry, I'll let you go home... soon. You want me to get another beer for you?'

If she would take three more sips or so, her bottle would be empty. It would actually be a shame if she would refuse and go back upstairs, because Sara had to admit, this was the longest she had talked to Baron so far... and it felt good to talk to somebody. She didn't feel any dread for him anymore; the fact that he was her kidnapper seemed to disappear in the background that night. She didn't know if it was the beer or the conversation, but... Sara began to feel more comfortable around him. She shrugged. 'I don't see why not.'

And so Baron fetched another beer from behind the bar, opened it and gave it to Sara. She immediately took another gulp, apparently getting a taste for the alcohol. But this was nothing more but a good sign to Baron. She had caught the bait, now he only had to slowly reel her in...

'Hmm. I honestly can't remember the last time I actually felt this relaxed.' Sara mumbled.

'How so? Are you saying that you're tensed all the time?' Baron asked.

Sara let out a sigh. 'Yeah... you could say that again.'

'Then why are you so tensed, Sara? Does it maybe have something to do with...'

Sara then suddenly looked him straight in the eyes, as if she was trying to warn him not to try to talk about her damn scar again. The look in her eyes had something angry, it almost looked like she was glaring at him. But then the glare seemed to soften. She broke the eye contact and glanced at the scar on her arm, the scar that she hated so much...

She had no idea if it were the effects of the alcohol that gave her the strong desire to throw off that heavy weight she had been carrying on her shoulders from the moment she started living on her own... but she suddenly wanted to tell Baron so badly about it.

'It's... kind of tough to talk about it. I'm sorry.' Sara whispered.

'Take your time.' Good fucking God, his plan actually worked! The ink demon saw the blue aura in her chest briefly flickering and had to control himself not to grin in victory, he had to be patient for just a little while longer. As soon as this bitch would spill the beans, her bitterness was all his to use against her.

It was quiet in Lucky Thirteen and Sara had to take a few more sips from her beer to gather the last bit of courage she needed.

'It must have started when I was four... no, maybe five years old. Up until then, I remember my parents treating me like how a person would treat a pet they enjoy having around. It was bearable, it was okay. But after I turned five years old, they started shouting at me for the smallest reasons, like when I was being too loud or didn't want to eat my dinner. My father gave me the first slap when I accidently knocked over an expensive vase one day. When my mother came home and saw what I did, she gave me a slap as well. And from that day on, I have been abused by my parents for the rest of my life. Everything I could do wrong was more than enough to send them flying into a rage. A slap for not cleaning up my room, a kick against my leg if I accidently spilled my milk on my clothes... they would always find a reason to physically or emotionally punish me. I thought it was normal for children to be hit, kicked, shoved, pinched, beaten with a belt, forced to sleep on the cold basement floor, have their hair pulled or be called horrible names by their parents. As I got older, the abuse only got worse. I was always afraid to mess up on something, I was so afraid to be punished by my parents. But somehow I would often make a mistake and that's when I could nearly piss myself in fear. They would punch and kick me until bruises appeared all over my body. I have screamed so many times for them to stop, I have apologized so many times, but that didn't stop them for beating the living hell out of me. And it didn't last long before my mother broke my arm for the first time by pushing me off the stairs... I think I have broken maybe ten more bones during my life after that. I have been called stupid, dumb, worthless, pathetic and useless on a nearly daily basis. You see that scar on my arm? That's because my father was so enraged that I got a B- for a history test at school, that he hit me with a glass. There were only rare times where they gave me love, but it would never last for long. I was taught to never tell anybody about how I got my bruises, but hell, I was already too scared to tell anyone anyway. During my childhood, I had hoped so much that someone would finally realize that there was something wrong at my home, someone who would call the police and stop the abuse... but that never happened. I lived in a small town where everyone knew each other, every child and adult knew that I walked around with bruises on my body. But nobody, and I mean nobody, had ever bothered to help me. Not in the neighborhood, not even at school. They wanted to remain ignorant, it was like they didn't want anything to do with an abused child. I'm so damn sure that they knew what was going on, but they didn't do anything. Nobody has ever stood up for me. I never had any friends, I was always alone. And while everyone continued with their daily lives, my parents continued to abuse me. When I finally had enough money to rent a place, I got the hell out of there without telling them where I was going. I had endured so many years of abuse, I wanted to cut ties with them as soon as possible. I hate my parents. I hate the townsfolk for allowing the abuse to continue. I don't trust anyone. I hate... everyone.'

Just then, Sara felt that her cheeks were soaking wet. Oh God... she was so caught up in telling her dark secret that she hadn't even noticed that she was crying. The tears continued to come out and there was no way to stop them. Sara hid her face behind her hands and sobbed uncontrollably. She knew she was crying in front of her kidnapper, but the pent up emotional pain proved to be stronger than her shame. A strong hand touched her shoulder and she immediately knew it was Baron's. He was trying to comfort her, but she couldn't turn off the faucet behind her eyes. While Sara continued to sob for a good ten minutes with her hands still shielding her face, she had no idea that a sinister smirk had been on Baron's face the entire time.

'Jesus... I feel like such a pathetic wimp.' she muttered when she finally stopped crying and loudly sniffed. 'Crying in front of you like that... I look like a total idiot, don't I?'

'No, not at all.' Baron said. This was it. He had reeled in the target; now it was finally time to manipulate her. Her bitterness and hatred against humanity itself was absolutely perfect in this case. 'Sara. You listen to me and you listen to me good. This is the perfect chance to get revenge.'

'W-what?'

'You heard me. After all those years, the day has finally come for you to have your revenge. You see, I came here to your world for a specific reason. I came here to find a person. He's called Finn Bálor. A demon hunter. But he isn't any kind of demon hunter... he's a half-demon. He has chosen to side with humanity because he wants to protect them from us, the demons. Oh yes, he wants to protect them all, despite their true nature. He wants to protect every single human being, including people like your parents. People like those cowards who allowed you to suffer. Finn thinks he's being the good guy, that his goals are so noble. But ask yourself, Sara... would you consider yourself as a righteous person if you choose to protect the scum of society? The murderers, the rapists, the cowards... the abusers?'

Sara shook her head, her eyes still watery from the tears. 'No.'

'Exactly. Finn thinks the demons are the ones who have to be killed, not the monsters who dare to call themselves human. He is the evil one, but he doesn't see it. Sara, listen to me. Together we can stop Finn and his madness. We will show him who the true evil is. And together... we can take out all those filthy motherfuckers he wants to protect so much. What do you say?'

All the hatred, all the bitterness that Sara had held inside her for all those hellish years, suddenly formed into one being, stronger than every other emotion she had felt, whispering in her ear to accept the offer that nobody had ever made to her. She was never going to be a victim again, she refused to play that role ever again! She had been a victim for too long... now was her time to stand above all. All the cowards, all the abusers... they would all feel her wrath.

Finn Bálor had to pay for protecting those bastards.

'How are we going to stop him?' Sara asked.

'I have plenty of strength to take on Finn, but you... I shall give you a part of my powers. Get up.'

Baron and Sara stood up at the same time. Just when Sara was about to ask him about how exactly he wanted to transfer those powers, Baron roughly grabbed her right wrist; his grip was strong enough to actually hurt her a bit. But that minor pain was nothing compared to the heavier, tingling pain she immediately felt in her wrist. It was like there was a thick needle hidden in the palm of his hand, shredding through her skin. She let out a mix between a shriek and gasp and tried to pull her hand out of his grip.

'Ah! What are you doing?' Sara asked with a hint of minor fear in her voice.

'Stand still, this won't last long.' Baron calmly replied.

And while the seconds ticked by, Sara tried her absolute best the endure the pain. Then, after somewhat longer than half a minute, the ink demon suddenly let go of her wrist, allowing her to see the little piece of art he had tattooed on her skin. Sara slightly widened her eyes in surprise. It was a little red heart, adorned with a pair of devil horns and a forked tail. There was some lingering pain, but Sara barely felt it due to her surprise.

'There. A small part of my powers is yours now.' Baron said. 'Do you feel it, Sara?'

'Yes... God, I feel it...' And she could indeed feel it. Closing her eyes, Sara felt something coursing through her veins that she had never felt before. It nearly felt like she had been drinking five energy shots in a row, it was quite intense... and it made her feel so powerful. My God, she had never felt this powerful in her life before!

With her new demonic powers flowing through her body, Sara glanced at the ink demon.

'Baron... could you do me a favor?'

'What is it?'

'Could you... give me a ride to my hometown? I feel like paying a little visit to my parents.'

And while Baron couldn't stop grinning with triumph from the inside, the chorus of the song that had helped calming herself down earlier briefly haunted her mind.

 _'Time stood still... the way it did before... it's like I'm sleepwalking...'_


	21. Beating Me Down Into The Ground

**Chapter 21**

 **Beating Me Down Into The Ground**

Sara regretted not taking a jacket with her when she had left her house on that horrifying night now that the cold wind of her night brushed against her bare arms, causing them to feel freezing cold.

Her cold arms were wrapped around Baron's torso, making sure she wouldn't fall off the motorcycle and make a painful, possibly even deadly fall to the asphalt. She was sitting right behind the ink demon on his motorcycle. The duo sped through the dark night, the only sources of light being the motorcycle's headlight and the full moon in the black sky, brightly illuminating the road in front of them. A minor burning pain was still lingering in her wrist and on the lines of Sara's brand new tattoo, coloring the skin around it in a soft shade of red, but it didn't bother her. The cold wind caressing her arms didn't do anything to take away the strange, new energy that was now coursing through every vein in her body. Dear God, she had never felt this kind of energy before... it was without a doubt inhuman. Supernatural... yes, that was the best way to describe that energy; it was supernatural.

So this must be what Baron was constantly feeling from the inside... given the fact that he had so many tattoos on his upper body, it surprised Sara that he didn't feel like combusting due to all that energy. But then again, since Baron was a supernatural being, she assumed that he was somehow able to control the energy. Looking down, she saw that her tattoo was glowing with a red light. Just the same way it did like Baron's tattoos on that night... Sara couldn't help but be entranced by her glowing tattoo for a short moment, it looked so pretty. She thought the pain in her wrist she had felt earlier was worth it.

Even though it must've been past midnight, Baron had still agreed to take Sara to her parents' home. The ink demon was silent at first after she had given him that request, it was likely that he was considering it. Then, much to Sara's surprise, he agreed to do it; from the moment he said yes, Sara could feel her heartbeat rising a little bit, but not out of fear or anything. No... she didn't feel that anymore. She felt determined to go back to the place that was Hell itself in her eyes, to confront her parents one more time before she would officially cut ties with those abusive monsters. She was going to show them the new strength she had, the strength that they could never take away from her, no matter how much they were going to verbally or even physically abuse her. Yes, Sara was convinced that they were more capable of unleashing all that violence on her, even if Baron was around. Hell, maybe they would be too enraged to even see him. But Sara was not going to allow for a second for them to lay a finger or hurl a degrading insult at her, not anymore. She refused to be the victim any longer, she had been playing that role for too long. She was sick of all the fear, the humiliation, the powerlessness; tonight, she was going to forever step out of that role.

Of course Sara wasn't going to walk away after that was done. When she was done with her parents, she and Baron would go after Finn Bálor and stop that evil bastard. He was going to pay for siding with the people she despised so damn much. He was just as bad as those people, she and Baron had to put a stop to him before more innocent demons would be slain be him and more filthy scumbags would fall under his protection, the protection they didn't deserve. Oh, but they were going to fall as well; Sara would make sure of that.

It was funny, actually... the demons, the creatures that humanity is so afraid of in all those horror stories and whatnot, are actually more human than human beings themselves.

Just then, Sara saw the name of her hometown written on a large green sign on the right side of the road, along with the name of Levesque City. Brightpine, three more kilometers to go. A shiver traveled down Sara's spine when she read it. Brightpine, the gateway to her personal hell. Brightpine, home to Edward and Lisa Lee, a married couple who couldn't keep their ungodly rage towards their daughter in check for many years. Brightpine, paradise for the cowards and the uncaring.

'You have to turn right here.' Sara said, hoping that Baron would hear her over the whistling sound of the cold wind. 'It's not far anymore!'

'Gotcha.' Baron replied and entered the road on the right, leaving the main road. Sara took a deep breath and clenched her fists in the ink demon's leather vest. She had sworn to God that she would never set foot in that godforsaken hellhole of a town again, and yet here she was, heading straight towards it. But she was ready. She had casted all dread for her hometown aside and abandoned her role as the helpless victim.

No... two certain people living in Brightpine were going to play that role tonight.

* * *

Holy shit, it was just like she had remembered it. It was exactly the way it was when she had finally gotten the opportunity to move away and left as soon as she had the chance. It was almost like time had ceased to exist in Brightpine; it nearly made Sara shiver, the thought was that creepy.

Driving through the streets of the town's center, she watched the shops passing them by. The bakery, the flower shop, the electronic shop, the butcher, the only fashion store of the town... none of them had moved away, none of them had gone bankrupt. The lampposts revealed the names of the stores that were printed on the large windows, Sara knew each name by heart. She had walked through that street on her way to school back in those days that she wished to forget, she would pass by each of those shops. Her fresh bruises and scar were clearly visible on her arms, all the owners had seen them when she walked to school or had to pick up some groceries. As soon as they would see the dark bruises on her limbs, they glanced away and pretended like they had seen nothing, obviously knowing how she got those goddamn bruises. They never asked how she got them. It was almost like the bruises were a common part of Sara's body, like fingers or ears. Even if she walked past the stores with her arm in a cast, they didn't ask anything. The owners of the shops in Brightpine had seen her injuries and they did absolutely nothing.

'Where do I have to go now?' Baron asked, causing Sara to snap out of her thoughts.

'Um... go left at the end of the street. Then turn right. You have to go straight the entire time and then you have to turn right at the end.'

'Got it.'

As Baron followed her instructions and they got closer to the house she spend the most miserable years of her life at, Sara found it harder to breathe and a heavy weight had found itself a way into her chest; she almost had to grasp at it, it felt so heavy. Oh no. No, no, no. She was not going to fucking chicken out and tell Baron to turn around, she refused to do that! She had finally gathered the courage and strength she needed, no way in hell that she was going to fall back into her victim role now! Sara took a few deep breaths, trying to somehow breathe out the weight in her chest. It worked, but not as good as singing; some leftovers of the weight were still pressing against her heart. Sara noticed that there was nobody outside, not even one person. Well, that was actually pretty logical, since it was that late. Everyone must've been sound asleep, as all the lights inside all the houses were out, rendering all the interiors completely dark.

Baron turned right at the end of the street and there she saw it. The house on the left at the end of King Street. The house where so many beatings were given behind those walls, the silent witnesses of the on-going physical, emotional and verbal abuse, all targeted to one helpless girl and carried out by two violent adults. It was the house where Sara Lee grew up. It was there, in all of its sinister glory. For outsiders it was just your average all-American house, two stores high, the outside build with ivory-white wood, a neat small garden in the front... but Sara knew better than that; it was a house of horror.

'It's right over there.' she said, trying to hide the trembling in her voice and pointing at the house. Baron gave her a little nod and parked the motorcycle on the sidewalk. They both got off. Sara couldn't keep her eyes off the place that was her former home.

'How are you holding up?' Baron asked. 'Do you still want to keep going?'

With her sight still glued to the house, Sara nodded and slowly breathed out through her nose. 'Yeah. Let's go.'

Her legs felt heavy with each step she took, but Sara bravely decided to keep walking. As she and Baron got closer, she began to think that she had been in fact living in some kind of twisted dollhouse. Yes, that was the best way to describe it (besides the term 'house of horror'); it was a dollhouse. On the outside, you would expect that a happy, warm, loving family was living inside the neat-looking house. But nobody would guess what was actually happening inside. Nobody would guess that a young girl would be mercilessly abused on a daily basis. Goose bumps appeared all over Sara's arms. Abandon all hope, ye who enter this goddamn dollhouse.

Now Baron and Sara were standing in front of the house. All the lights were off; Sara assumed that her parents were asleep, but that didn't matter to her.

'So what do you want to do now? Enter through the front door?' Baron asked.

'No.' Sara replied, shaking her head. 'You see, my parents especially liked to harm me when I was least expecting it. Now it's time for me to give them a little surprise. I have an idea. Come with me.'

The ink demon followed her to the left side of the house, where a wooden, ladder-like structure was build against the wall, adorned with dark green climbers, leading to her old bedroom window. Goose bumps appeared over Sara's arms once again when a memory of her climbing down those climbers one time in an attempt to escape from a beating. But her father was the one who was able to catch up with her and she had received a brutal beating regardless.

Shaking off that harrowing memory, Sara pulled herself together. 'Maybe the window is open. We have to climb up there. I think it will hold.'

She was the first one to climb up the wooden structure. The wood loudly creaked under her weight, for a moment Sara was afraid that this would wake up her parents, but then realized she actually didn't care much about that and continued climbing. The climbers tickled the skin on her arms. Her fingers searched for the window frame and found it. As soon as she got to the top, Sara tried to open the window by shoving it upwards. Much to her surprise, it wasn't locked. She opened it far enough for her to enter and crawled through the opening. She landed on the soft, white carpet of her old bedroom.

When Sara got up on her feet, she saw something that made her jaw drop in shock and surprise.

All of her stuff was gone. Her bed, her closet, her nightstand, even the clock on the wall... they were all vanished, only leaving a few deep marks on the carpet as a reminder of their existence. The entire bedroom was empty. Sara had only taken a suitcase with some clothes on the day she escaped from her house, it was likely that the remaining clothes had vanished as well. What was going on here?

Just then, Sara heard creaking behind her, followed by a grunt. When she turned around, she saw Baron crawling through the opened window and landing on the ground with a loud thud. He immediately got up afterwards.

'They threw away all my stuff...' Sara said, her voice soft with disbelief. 'They must've done that after I moved out... but why?'

Suddenly, they heard the click of a light switch, followed by rapid footsteps which got increased in volume as they approached the empty bedroom. The door swung open and Sara could almost feel her blood freezing. Her father, Edward Lee, was standing in the doorway. He was a tall man in his early fifties with short, grey hair, wearing a pair of boxers and sweat-stained, white t-shirt; he was the man Sara feared so much for when she was young. Oh damn, he must've heard them when Baron fell on the ground... Sara's father stared at the duo with a mix of shock and anger in his eyes.

'Wha... Sara?' he asked, as if he couldn't believe that his abused daughter was actually standing in front of him. 'What are you doing here? And who the hell is this guy?'

'He...' Sara noticed that her mouth was becoming dry. 'He is...'

'I'm nobody.' Baron said, unmoved by their sudden discovery.

'Well, even if you are 'nobody', would you mind explaining me why the fuck you are in my house?' Sara's father asked. 'And I would especially like an explanation from you, young lady! Where have you been all this time? How dare you not telling us where you were going! You ran away from us like some... disobedient dog!'

'I found a place that I could afford, far away from you two.' Sara replied, trying her best to hide the trembling in her voice. 'If I told you where I was living, you would've come over and continue beating me.'

'And rightfully so!' her father spat out. 'No daughter of mine would pull off some sneaky shit like this! How could you do this to us, Sara?! You ungrateful bitch! After everything we have done for you!'

'And what exactly have you done for me, dad?' Sara's voice had grown cold at this point.

'What the fuck do you think?! Look around you! We have given you proper shelter, food, education, clothing, pocket money, a goddamn bed to sleep in! And then you stab us in the back like this!'

'Oh, really? Well, let me tell you what you and mom have done for me... You have given me nothing more but pure hell. All my life, you have beaten me with your fists, belt, and anything else that you could find that was good enough to beat the living shit out of me with. You and mom abused me on a daily basis. No matter how much I begged you to stop, you continued nonetheless. You have turned my childhood into a nightmare!'

Edward Lee scoffed indignantly. 'We? Abusing you? You call those little slaps abuse? Me and my mother loved you, Sara. We...'

'Loved me?!' Sara screamed. 'You call beating a child until bruises appear all over their body love?! Do you think you show love by calling a child stupid, worthless and pathetic nearly every single day?! How much love do you think you're showing when you break a child's bones?! Do you even still think you're a loving parent if you force your child to sleep on the cold basement floor as a punishment?! If you two loved me so much, then where the hell is all my stuff?! Did you love me so much that you felt like throwing them away instead of cherishing them as a memory of your daughter?! You tell me, dad! You fucking tell me!'

It was completely silent in the empty bedroom for a moment.

'I sold it all.' Edward Lee emotionlessly replied.

'You what?' Sara asked, slightly squinting her eyes. 'Why?'

'So that I could have enough money to pay for your mother's funeral. I was nearly broke.'

'Wait, what... Mom died?'

'Not long after you left. She suffered a stroke one night while cooking dinner and passed away in the hospital. And you... you didn't even show your sorry ass at her funeral! Your own damn mother! Now who's the terrible person here, Sara?!'

For some obvious reason, Sara didn't feel any sadness for the passing of her mother. No, she didn't feel anything for that violent woman. 'How could I have known she had died?!'

'You know... I've realized something now. Even if you had shown up on her funeral, I don't think I would've wanted you there anyway. You wouldn't be any help to me. You forced me to mourn alone. Me, your own father. I hope you will live with that guilt for as long as you live, Sara.'

It took a few large steps for Sara's father to cross the bedroom and stand in front of his daughter. Sara knew exactly what was going through his mind right now; he was about to give her a beating. But she refused to cower away, not for a second. Her father was now standing in front of her, his face enough to hers to feel his hot breath. His cold blue eyes expressed nothing more but hate. This man was supposed to be her father, he was supposed to love, take care and protect her... but he did none of that.

'And you know what? I think it's your fault that your mother died. It's because of you that she suffered that stroke. Sara... you're a monster.'

'No, dad...' Sara replied. 'You're the monster here.'

For the very first time in her life, Sara had enough. She grabbed her father's throat and squeezed it shut with all the strength she had; the tattoo on her wrist glowed red as it multiplied her strength. Edward's eyes bulged out of their sockets and his face colored in a deep shade of red. He opened his mouth in an attempt to scream for help, but the only sound he could produce was a miserable little squeak. But Sara wasn't planning on stopping now. Thanks to her newfound, supernatural strength, she managed to throw her father across the room, sending him flying against the wall. As soon as her father's sore body touched the ground, Sara ran towards him, got on top of him and started to punch him in the face over and over again. Her father desperately tried to push his enraged daughter off of him, but without avail. Sara was so absorbed by her own rage, she didn't even feel the skin on her knuckles bursting.

'You have been a monster to me for years, along with mom!' she screamed. 'You have never been a father to me, you are and always will be an abusive bastard! I couldn't give less than a fuck about the death of that abusive bitch! How dare you denying everything that has happened?! You know goddamn well what you have done to me! Remember that time you beat me with a baseball bat and you broke my arm on three spots?! Do you still remember the time where I caught a cold from sleeping on the basement floor and you slapped me for complaining about it?! Hell, do you even remember those nights where you came into my room and wanted me to undress, so you could see how much I had grown?! Sick bastard! Abusive fuck! Why?! What did I ever do to deserve all this shit?!'

Despite the fact that his face was now a bloody mess, Sara's father glared at her with the most hateful look she had ever seen; when her eyes met his, she stopped punching but still didn't feel the pain in her knuckles.

'You really want to know why...?' Edward hissed, spitting out droplets of blood mixed with saliva. 'It's because... you are the biggest mistake we have ever made! You should have never been born! We hated you before you were even born!'

Sara Lee finally snapped. Letting out an ear-piercing, bloodcurdling scream, she grabbed her father's head and smashed it against to floor, her tattoo glowing in a bright red light. As she continued to smash her tormentor's head against the floor over and over again, she could only see a bright red shade covering her sight, blinding her. She heard a skull crack, followed by a sickening wet sound, like something was being pummeled into a pulp. It felt like a century had passed before her arm began to feel heavy and tired. The red shade faded away, slowly bringing back her surroundings... and the first thing Sara saw was the blood-stained carpet. Loudly panting, she saw what had happened during her livid rampage. Her father's head was nothing more but a bloody mush of brains, pieces of bone and blood. Most of his teeth had been smashed out of his mouth; his jaw was the only piece of his head that came close to being intact.

Sara had bashed her father's head on the floor until it burst like a watermelon. Edward Lee, her tormentor, was dead.

Sara thought she was going to hyperventilate when she got up on her feet, trembling all over her body. Oh God, oh Jesus fucking Christ, she had done this... she had killed him! Warm, fresh blood soaked her hand, just the feeling of it send her closer to the verge of hyperventilating. A large hand touching her shoulder snapped her out of her shock and somehow eased her breathing. Looking up, Sara saw that it was Baron. He had been standing there, he had seen it all... and yet it didn't look like he was shocked by the violent outburst at all.

'Come on, Sara.' he said. 'It's time to go.'


	22. No Time To Waste

**Chapter 22**

 **No Time To Waste**

As if a brutal murder had never occurred last night in Brightpine, the morning sun peacefully shined through the window of the only bedroom in Lucky Thirteen, giving the interior a rather serene atmosphere. The sunlight eventually grew large enough to touch Sara's legs, who was still sound asleep. The blood of the tormentor who was supposed to be her father had been washed off her hand, a single drop of blood couldn't be found on her skin. She had cleaned her bloody hand in the bathroom sink last night; the leftover blood stained to the white ceramic, dried up and thinned with water... an eerie reminder of what happened in the 'dollhouse' of horrors back in Brightpine.

The sunlight climbed up to her face, covering it with a gentle warmth. It took a little while for the warmth to reach into her dreamless sleep, urging her to wake up. But Sara didn't want to wake up, forcing herself to keep her eyes closed and hold onto her sleep. But the warmth wouldn't stop bothering her, even growing a bit brighter. Sara gave up. Letting out a sigh, she slowly opened her eyes, which were still slightly stinging with sleepiness. She stared at the cracked ceiling and couldn't remember a moment about what had happened before she went to sleep last night... and then it all came back to her, striking her like a lightning bolt.

Last night, in a fit of blinding rage, she had killed her father in that goddamn house on King Street.

She had bashed his head onto the floor until it burst, his blood had colored her hand red. She had heard his skull crack and the insides of his head being pummeled into a gory pulp and she didn't stop for a second, not even reconsidering to let him live. No, she had refused to do that. She wanted those hurtful words to stop, she wanted to end the abuse once and for all. Sara remembered that she couldn't stop trembling when she and Baron climbed down and escaped the house, her hands were violently shaking as she grasped the ink demon's vest on their way back to the biker bar. As soon as they had arrived, Sara rushed upstairs and went to immediately to the bathroom; it was nearly impossible to twist open the knobs of the faucet, but despite the trembling she managed to clean her hand. After that, she went to her bedroom and lied down on the bed, still dressed in her clothes when she fell asleep. (Now that she thought about it, it surprised Sara that she was able to almost instantly fall asleep despite the huge shock) Baron hadn't said a single word to her the entire time.

Speaking of which... where was he?

Just then, Sara heard soft snoring on her left side. She turned her head and was greeted with the sight of Baron lying next to her, still asleep and lying on top of the sheets... stark-naked.

'What the fu-?!' Sara exclaimed as she sat upright with a jolt, but quickly covered her mouth with her hand before she could finish her sentence; a faint smell of blood mixed with cheap soap drifted into her nose as she did so. Thankfully Baron didn't wake up. His eyes were still closed and his chest slowly rose up and down as his snoring continued. Wait... had he been sleeping like this the entire time during these past days? Sara felt her cheeks coloring red; he must have been sleeping next to her each night, she was pretty sure there weren't any other bedrooms. So that meant he was completely naked each time... fuck, did this guy have any shame?! But if he had touched her in her sleep, she surely would've woken up, yes, Sara was convinced about that. She was a bit of a light sleeper, after all. She wanted to look away in embarrassment, but there was something about the ink demon's body that drew her attention... it were his tattoos. Now that he was not wearing his leather vest and was so close to her, Sara could finally see the tattoos decorating his upper body from up close. And Sara had to admit... they were so beautiful.

Each tattoo was so detailed, they were true pieces of art. An image of a large, black crow, a clock colored with yellow, blue and dark grey ink, an hourglass with red sand and the number thirteen surrounded by an aura of orange and red were the most impressive tattoos on his right arm, but what had to be Sara's favorite designs were the tattoos on his chest. A human heart kept in a cage, guarded by two swallows, one of them possessing red feathers, the other blue. A red star was tattooed on each shoulder. Sara couldn't keep her eyes off of them, it was like they were hypnotizing her. Her fingertips loomed over the tattoos, but she suppressed the urge to touch them. She glanced at the heart with the devil horns and forked tail on her wrist. Realizing that this was practically a gift from the ink demon made her stomach flutter... in a good way. Sara loved every bit of it, even if it was a rather simple design; it was the best gift someone had given to her. Not only because of the design, but also.. because it has given her the supernatural strength that gave her the courage to finally face her abuser.

When Sara looked back at Baron's chest, she could feel a pair of eyes gazing into her soul; slightly turning her head, she saw that Baron was lazily staring at her. Sara let out a soft gasp. How long had he been awake? Had he seen her staring at him? She tried to prevent her cheeks from coloring red in embarrassment, but much to her agony, she could slowly feel them warm up. But Baron didn't seem to be fazed at all by her blush.

'You should better get ready.' he mumbled. 'We're leaving.'

'L-Leaving? Where are we going?'

'To Levesque City. We're going after Finn Bálor. Now hurry up, will you?'

The ink demon swung his legs over the edge of the bed, got up and picked up his clothes that were scattered over the floor. Today it had to happen, he was convinced that Sara had been manipulated enough. He had agreed to take her to her parents' home last night just so she would shut up about it, now it was finally time that she was going to play the role she deserved... and that was the role of his replaceable 'shield'. Her bitter aura was thankfully still lingering in her chest; Baron guessed that this bitch still couldn't forgive humanity for letting her suffer for years, even if she smashed her father's head against the floor until it shattered into a bloody mess.

Sara watched as the ink demon put on his underwear and leather pants. He sat down on the edge of the bet to put on his boots. Both of them didn't say anything for a little while.

'You know, Baron...' Sara said with a small smile. 'I... actually have to thank you. It's all because of you that I am now feeling so strong. I've never felt like that before, it's so wonderful. And... after what happened last night... I didn't intend to kill my father, I really didn't, but now that he's dead... I feel so free now. It's like...'

'Yeah yeah, that's fantastic.' Baron crudely replied, interrupting her. 'Now will you please hurry the hell up? I will get some peanuts for you downstairs.' And then he left the bedroom and headed down the stairs, all without even looking at her.

Sara stared at the empty doorway with a bit of a indignant look on her face, taken a little back by the ink demon's sudden rudeness. But she quickly thought up a reason of why he was acting like that. They were going after Finn Bálor, he didn't want him to get away, so of course he wanted her to hurry up and get ready. He wasn't being rude, he was in a hurry. Yes, that had to be it. Baron wouldn't treat her like that, he... he cared about her feelings. That's why he took her to Brightpine last night. He cared about her... right? Yes, he truly did care about her.

With this reason, Sara pulled herself together and immediately felt a whole lot better. Now that she knew about her strength that she displayed last night, she felt more than confident to find Finn Bálor and stop him. She and Baron were going to make him pay. Smiling from ear to ear, she was almost bursting with confidence.

But little did Sara know how small her role in Baron's twisted little game actually was...

* * *

'Look, Paige, it's okay. Sit down, I can make my breakfast myself, seriously! What if yer leg acts up again?'

'Don't you worry about that, Mr. Demon Hunter. My leg is all fine. You stay put while I make your waffles, okay?' Paige replied, smiling at Finn like an older sister would smile at her younger brother.

The kitchen of the apartment above The Pentagram smelled absolutely delicious. The smell had drifted into Finn's sleep that morning, it was a delightful way to wake up and it already made his mouth water. He knew immediately that he was going to be in for a treat; nobody, and he meant nobody, could make pancakes and waffles like Paige. It had taken her a couple of tries, but she had finally mastered the art of cooking the tastiest pancakes and waffles, all made with fresh batter she made herself. And it looked like the female demon was kind of proud of it, judging by the smile whenever she presented Finn with the delicious breakfast.

Sitting at the table, Finn watched as the demon witch poured the batter into the waffle iron and closed it. Just a few more minutes and the waffles would be done. It surprised the demon hunter when he saw Paige standing in the kitchen, stirring in the bowl of batter. He couldn't help but feel kind of guilty; her leg was still in pain, she shouldn't be doing this. Finn had offered her many times to take it easy so that he could make his breakfast, but she constantly refused with a reassuring grin on her face, telling him that her leg was fine. And it seemed like that was indeed the case.

'Voila! Another masterpiece, cooked by the almighty demon witch Paige!' the female demon playfully exclaimed when she opened the waffle iron. The waffles had taken shape and were colored in a delicious shade of gold-brown. She scooped them up with a knife and put them on a plate. 'Do you want syrup on it, Finn?'

'Oh, now ye're just spoilin' me. Bit of butter will be fine, thanks!'

After putting on a tiny clump of butter on top of the fresh waffles, Paige put the plate in front of the demon hunter. 'Bon appetite! Hope it will be good!'

She sat down on the opposite side of Finn and smiled when Finn cut off a piece of his waffles and put it in his mouth. He let out a hum of delight and nodded. 'Yup. It's delicious, as always.' he said with the piece of waffle still in his mouth.

'You flatterer.' Paige chuckled.

'Hey, it's true, isn't it?'

As he continued to eat from his waffle, Finn was wondering about something. Has Paige always been this playful, even when she lived in the Demon Realm. Honestly, he found that hard to believe. How can someone retain a playful attitude in a supernatural environment where death and violence were common? It was everyone for themselves in the Demon Realm; kill or be killed. Trustworthy alliances were rare, almost every demon would be willing to stab you in the back as soon as he or she got the opportunity, whether it would be for power or something else. Most demons didn't mind living in that realm, since those things were perfectly normal. And yet Paige decided to leave. But why?

'Paige... can I ask ya somethin'?'

'Sure, what is it?'

'Um... please don't take this the wrong way, but... why are you living in the Mortal Realm? I'm just wonderin' about that, ya know...'

The smile disappeared from the demon witch's face as she let out a soft sigh. 'For as long as I can remember, I have been living in the midst of nothing more but violence. All the demons I knew were pure-bred murder machines who lived to consume the life forces of humans. I'm not going to lie, my own mum was one of those vicious demons. She was a powerful demon witch who wouldn't hesitate to lay a gruesome curse on any mortal and she expected me to follow into her footsteps. During those years, I grew tired of being forced to live with all the violence and deaths. I wanted to get out. And so... I exchanged my life in the Demon Realm for a calmer life in the Mortal Realm. I don't think my mum still can't accept the fact that her daughter doesn't want to live up to her expectations, but... I'm at peace with that. Unfortunately it looks like I can't even escape from the violence in the Mortal Realm, with all those demons killing people for their life forces and those damn demon hunters... no offense, Finn. Hopefully there will be a day where humans will see that not all demons are malevolent, but I don't think it will happen anytime soon.'

Paige stopped talked and stared down at the table leaf. Her face had something sad... Finn decided to cheer her up a bit.

'Hey, don't worry about it.' he said with a comforting tone in his voice. 'A few people already know how ya really are. Me, Dolph, um... what was that lad's name again? Sami, right? They know that ye're not like those other demons. Trust me, that day will come... and the rest will see how much of a wonderful person ya actually are.'

The demon witch looked up and smiled at the demon hunter. 'Thanks, Finn... that means so much to me.'

Suddenly, the loud ringtone of Paige's cell phone could be heard in the living room. The female demon got up and quickly ran into the direction of the ringtone. A few seconds later, it abruptly stopped.

'Hello? Oh hey, Dolph! Is everything alright? What? Hang on a second, he's right there. Yeah, just a moment please.'

Paige walked back to the dinner table and handed over her cell phone to Finn. 'It's Dolph.' she said. 'He's got something for you.'

'Hey Dolph, what do ya got this time?' Finn said as soon as he pressed the cell phone against his ear. In the pits of his stomach, he had the strong feeling that this might have something to do with Baron... it was merely a hunch, he knew that, and yet he couldn't shake it off.

'Have you been watching the news lately, Finn?' Dolph replied. A phone could be heard ringing in the background, along with the faint sound of a conversation; the demon hunter assumed that the detective was at the police station. 'Do you know about the case of that homicide in the suburbs of this city?'

'Aye. I know about it.'

'Good.' At this point, Dolph's voice had grown softer. 'Up until now, we hadn't had any leads since no evidence could be found and no witnesses had come forward. But just a few moments ago... we finally got one hell of a statement. And I thought it could be very useful to you.'

'Very well. Where shall we meet up?'

'What do you think about that coffee shop on Rhodes Street? Does that sound good to you?'

'Aye, sounds good enough to me. I'll get there immediately. See you there, Dolph.'

'Okay then. See you.'

A click and three beeps followed; the call was ended.


	23. Finally, A New Lead

**Chapter 23**

 **Finally, A New Lead**

A little less than fifteen minutes after he had made that phone call, Detective Dolph Ziggler left the police station and headed to the coffee shop on Rhodes Street.

Looking at the sky, he saw that light grey clouds nearly made it impossible to see the sun. Maybe it was going to rain in a couple of minutes... he hoped that he would arrive at the coffee shop in time before that would happen. He didn't need to get wet again, no thanks, he already had a shower in the morning. The detective remembered hearing Kaitlyn entering the bathroom while he was rinsing the shampoo out of his hair, for a moment he thought that she was going to surprise him by joining him in the shower cabin, like she would do in the first months of their marriage. Dolph saw her dark silhouette behind the damp windows and he had slightly grinned, but much to his minor disappointment, he heard her saying: 'Hon, I put your clothes right here. I'll make your coffee!' before leaving the bathroom. Bummer.

It wasn't a very promising start in the morning, that was for sure, but it was the last thing that was on Dolph's mind now; he had a case to solve, and it was a damn hard case. The suburbs of Levesque City were shaken up by the grisly massacre in that house. People were warned to lock the doors and windows at all times as long as the murderer would still be on the loose. Dolph was pretty damn sure that most residents did that, they probably had a death wish if they didn't. The people in the suburbs were afraid and Dolph wanted to catch the bastard as quick as possible. Problem was, there weren't any leads, mostly because no useful information could be found... and it frustrated him so much.

Rhodes Street wasn't too far away from the police station, it was just a couple of blocks away. After a few minutes of walking, Dolph turned around a corner and could already see the logo of the coffee shop in the distance. He wondered if Finn had already arrived. He wouldn't mind that at all, it meant it could tell him the news right away. Dolph himself was so glad to finally have a useful statement from a witness, it was about damn time that progress would be made in the case. At first he wondered why the hell it took so long for a witness to come forward... but after hearing the witness's story, he honestly couldn't blame him.

The detective finally reached the coffee shop and went in, immediately he was greeted with the smell of fresh coffee, much to his delight. It wasn't really that crowded, which surprised him because he expected it to be a lot more crowded since it was still morning. Maybe it was more crowded in the more popular coffee shops in town, he guessed. Two businessmen wearing fancy suits were sitting at a table together, chatting and occasionally taking a sip of their coffee. A female hipster was sitting near the large front window, texting someone on her cell phone.

'Hello sir, how can I help you?' a young girl in her late teens behind the cash register asked Dolph. Her long red hair was tied into a ponytail and she put up the most customer-friendly smile she could make.

'Yes ma'am, could I please have a cappuccino please?'

'Of course. What is your name, sir?'

'It's Dolph.'

'Very well, got it. My colleague will bring your order to you when it's done!'

'Thank you very much.'

The detective sat down at one of the empty tables and took out his phone. No messages, no calls either. He decided to wait for Finn; hopefully he wouldn't take too long. His coffee arrived in five minutes, his name was scribbled on the carton cup with a black marker. Dolph drank from the hot coffee with small sips, taking his time. He really hoped that the story of the witness would come to good use for Finn... because the culprit could very well be linked to that case of the trailer park massacre. Hell, Dolph would bet all of his well-earned money that this guy was also responsible for the deaths of the residents of the trailer park... but the killer had clearly grown more bloodthirsty. He had been in that house that afternoon. Several phone calls from concerned family members had come in that day and he and a few colleagues were send to the suburbs to check out what was going on. The sun was shining and the summer temperatures were slowly rising, but even from outside the house you could smell that heavy, stale, distinguishable odor of blood... reason enough for the detective to call for a forensic team. From the moment that smell had drifted into his nose, the detective knew that he was going to have to brace himself. What was waiting for the forensic team inside that house was going to be everything but pretty. He had seen the strange, black, frozen liquid blocking the front door, it nearly made it impossible for the team to enter the crime scene; only when a chainsaw was brought to the scene, the forensic team was able to get into the house. The smell of blood became a lot more heavier when they stepped inside, Dolph noticed that some members were even hesitant to go any further.

That's when the detective saw the first blood smear on the floor, leading to the living room... where a horror show was awaiting them.

Whoever had done this, was one violent motherfucker. Everywhere Dolph looked, there was blood and guts. No joke, it was literally everywhere; on the furniture, on the floor, on the walls, on the kitchen counter, on the radio, on the TV, even on the fucking windows. The victims were sprawled over the floor in puddles of their own blood, torn into useless pieces of meat. The smell of blood was nearly suffocating. The detective could feel his stomach clenching together, but he forced himself to keep his lunch down, like he did many times before whenever he entered a gruesome crime scene. He heard one of the members of the forensic team, a young rookie, running outside to vomit; Dolph had the feeling that poor guy wasn't going to stay at the police for much longer.

No matter for how long the team dusted for fingerprints or searched for any other clues that would solve this gruesome case, nothing could be found... just like with the trailer park. There was no doubt that this was the same guy, Dolph was convinced about that now that he had heard the statement of the witness.

But who the hell was this guy...?

The door of the coffee shop opened, causing the detective to snap out of his thoughts. Looking up, he saw that Finn had finally arrived at the coffee shop, along with some other interested customers. He saw the demon hunter looking around, as if he was searching for him. His blue-grey eyes eventually locked onto Dolph; Finn gave him a small smile and nod and walked towards him.

'Dolph! How are ya doin', man?' the demon hunter asked, sitting down at the opposite side of the table.

'I'm doing fine, thanks. It's good to see you, Finn. I'm glad you could make it. Do you want something to drink?'

'Maybe later, but thanks.'

'Fine then. Let's get to business, though. You have heard about that massacre, right?'

'That one in the suburbs, right? Aye, I've heard about it. It's been a lot on the news lately. I've seen that ye're on the case... hope it isn't too gruesome for ya.'

Dolph briefly chuckled. 'Nah, don't worry about it. I have seen so much horrible stuff during my career that I'm barely fazed by bloody crime scenes. But I have to admit... that crime scene definitely has to be one of the worst I have ever seen. Jesus Christ, so much blood...' Remembering the dried-up blood staining against nearly everything in the house made goose bumps appear over the detective's arm.

'I'm... sorry ya had to see that.' Finn replied. 'I really am.'

The detective shook his head. 'It's okay. Let's not talk about it anymore. Like I said on the phone, a witness had come forward this morning and gave us a statement that might interest you a lot... I think you will have a new lead, Finn.'

'I'm all ears. Tell me.'

The witness's name was Bronson Mathews. Dolph was the one who took the statement from him in the interrogation room, for some reason he hadn't really expected that the only witness who dared to come forward to hopefully give some useful information about the gruesome case was a tall guy in his mid-twenties with brown hair that reached past his shoulders and a muscled posture. Bronson looked nervous, judging by the way he twiddled his thumb the entire time during the interrogation. At first he even seemed to hesitate about telling what he had seen that grisly night, Dolph even thought that he was about to bullshit him, but he decided not to come to that conclusion yet until he would tell his story. After all, he was able to immediately tell if someone was bullshitting him... and this guy better wouldn't dare to waste his time.

'I asked Mr. Mathews why he only wanted to tell his story now. He said that he didn't want to do it at first because he was afraid that the police wasn't going to believe him. Now let me tell you Finn, if someone starts a confession like this, you will be guaranteed that it will catch my attention. After watching my former partner's bones being telekinetically broken by two demons last year, I'm not really that skeptical about all that supernatural stuff anymore. I told him to tell me anyway and that's when he finally spilled the beans. Mr. Mathews was there at the party that night. He claimed that he was going to the bathroom when he heard a scream coming from upstairs. He said that the screaming convinced him that someone was being murdered. He stood there at the bottom of the stairs when he heard footsteps and saw a tall biker with glowing tattoos coming down the stairs. Convinced that he was the killer, Mr. Mathews ran out the door, which was open at the moment; as soon as he was outside, he saw a black liquid filling the doorframe and freezing up. Not long after that, he heard more screaming coming from inside the house. That's when he ran away from the crime scene. I suppose I couldn't live with the fact that he had been hiding the truth for way too long, so that's why he probably came to us. Let me ask you, Finn... where else had a biker with glowing tattoos been spotted?'

'The trailer park.'

'Exactly. It's the same fucking guy. He's the one responsible for this.'

First the trailer park, now this... damn it, it was him! It had been him all along!

'Baron.' the demon hunter mumbled.

'Wait, what? You know his name?' Dolph asked.

Finn nodded. 'Aye, I know his name alright. He's a dangerous demon, Dolph, I suppose ya have seen that by now. I have to find him. I have to stop him before more innocent people will die. I'd be careful if I were ya, lad... I don't think Kaitlyn is ready to become a widow yet.'

Hearing those words made a shiver run up Dolph's spine. Outside, the first raindrops hit the large front window of the coffee shop.


	24. Partners In Crime

**Chapter 24**

 **Partners In Crime**

From the moment they passed the large green sign that welcomed them in Levesque City, Baron felt a certain feeling in the pits of his gut, which strongly reminded him of hunger. And he knew exactly what he was hungering after; the defeat of Finn Bálor.

That pathetic dumbass Sara had truly tested his patience, but he didn't snap. Of course, there were some times where the ink demon was on the verge of quitting playing the nice guy, drag the bitch outside, drive all the damn way to the city and practically force her to become his 'shield', whether she would like it or not. But he wouldn't give a shit, he didn't care about her emotions and he never would. Sara meant nothing to him from the start. She was just his expandable 'shield'; as soon as he would get his well-deserved new powers, she could rot away in a gutter for all he cared, sobbing like a fucking little crybaby about her oh so tragic past. But no matter how much she had tested his patience, Baron had stayed in his role as the 'caring' savior and it looked like his patience had finally paid off that night. Sara had confessed the source of her bitterness to him, which is he was very pleased about. He had allowed her to visit her father so she would shut up and not whine about it later on, he had honestly expected that only a heated shouting match with lots of tears would happen, but instead of that, he was treated with a brutal murder. It honestly surprised Baron to see that one of his tattoos was capable to give her such an astounding amount of strength... he actually felt a hint of pride back then.

Yes, he was confident that Sara was ready to be his 'shield'.

It was clear that she felt comfortable around him, judging by the fact that she pressed her body closely against his back and had tightly wrapped her arms around his chest. Last night, during the trip to that shithole of a town called Brightpine, her body barely touched his, as if she was trying her best to avoid the contact. But now it seemed like she finally felt completely safe around him, which was a good sign; she was no longer distrustful towards him... for as long as that would last, at least, but not like Baron cared about that or anything.

As they drove further into the city, Baron and Sara saw that as usual, the center was full of life. Everywhere they looked, there was someone on their way to their job, the stores, a psychiatrist and maybe a handful of those people event went to some secret lover their partners had no idea about. When she was still stuck in her role of the helpless, fearful victim, Sara would've hoped that one day someone, even if it was a complete stranger, would stand up for her and report the abuse she had endured at home for so many years, but now that she had finally stepped out of that goddamn role and found the courage to resolve it herself, all the people she saw around her, walking on the sidewalk or sitting inside their cars, didn't mean a single thing to Sara. She would never rely on the help of anyone else again; now that she owned a part of Baron's powers, she felt like nobody could harm her... not even a certain half-demon.

They drove along with the traffic until Baron spotted an empty spot to park at a nearby parking lot. The ink demon turned on his blinker and turned right at the traffic lights, heading towards the parking lot. He parked the motorcycle and they both got off. Sara stretched her arms and let out a soft groan; she felt her legs slightly tingling, but she didn't really mind that.

'So... what exactly is the plan, Baron?' she asked. 'How do we find Finn? Do you know where he's staying?'

'For so far I know, he's been located in this city. Searching for him would be like searching for a needle in a fucking haystack...' the ink demon mumbled. 'Unless... we can draw him to us.'

'How are we going to do that?'

'It's very simple. Follow me, we have to get moving. I don't want to waste any more time.'

Sara gave her partner in crime a little nod; she too didn't want to sit still for much longer. They exited the parking lot, crossed the street after waiting for a little while for a good opportunity to cross since it was that busy on the road, and blended in with the crowd. A head or two were turned to obnoxiously gawk at the nearly seven-feet tall biker with his intimidating tattoos, but neither Baron nor Sara weren't bothered one bit by the unwanted attention. Hell, they barely even noticed it.

'All we have to do is to draw his attention.' Baron calmly explained. 'That bastard needs to know that we have arrived to stop him, Sara. If he's a brave man... no, that's the right description. He's not a man, he's a fucking freak. If that freak is brave enough, he will come fight me. And I'm pretty damn sure that he wants to fight me, because we demons know how big that bastard's ego is. The humans he protect have faith in him, he doesn't want to be labeled as a coward. But I'm not afraid, Sara. I know that I'm strong enough to take him on... and I know that you are too.'

'You... really believe that, Baron?' Compliments were something that Sara had almost never received, next to love and attention; it almost made her want to lightly bite her lower lip in shyness.

The ink demon nodded and crooked the corners of his mouth into a small smile. 'I've seen it, haven't I? Sara, you have so much potential... more than you could possibly think.'

Feeling her blood rushing to her cheeks, Sara miraculously suppress a soft gasp just in time and looked away from Baron, staring at the concrete. She had absolutely no idea about what she had to say. Nobody had ever said something like that to her, not even her parents at the very rare moments where they did show her love (or what came close to that), which mostly consisted of a pat on the head, a rather cold 'thank you' and her favorite dish being cooked at night by her mother. That was all, that was all the love they could give to her. A compliment would never be heard out of their mouths. But Baron... he was so much different than them in every way. He cared about her, he protected her, he had saved her, he took care of her, he gave her a shoulder to cry on, he gave her strength, he... made her feel safe. Something her parents, nor someone else had made her feel. Walking next to him in the midst of this crowd of people made her believe that nobody could harm her. And it was not only that.

Sara wasn't going to deny this... she actually thought Baron was attractive.

Whatever was intimidating about him for her at first, was now nothing more but attractive to her. His towering size, the tattoos, his dark hair that reached past his shoulders by a few millimeters, even his eyes from which the irises were almost as dark as the night... all of that were now presenting themselves as Baron's most charming features. And then, in a whim of sudden playfulness, Sara took a gentle yet playful hold of the ink demon's arm and smiled from ear to ear. When he felt the touch on his arm, Baron looked down and saw his 'shield' staring back at him with an adoring look in her eyes. Normally Baron would shove away any girl who would touch him without his permission, but in this case, he let her be; he wanted her to leave in the illusion of her mattering to him. He briefly smiled at her before looking forward again. A soft giggle escaped past Sara's lips. Baron himself had to suppress a chuckle, but not out of amusement; this looked fucking ridiculous, they looked like they were a goddamn couple.

As they continued to walk through the busy city, Sara couldn't help but often glance at the walls of buildings, wooden fences, even at the large windows of shops and diners, but not once did she see a poster with a photo of her printed on it, reminding everyone that Sara Lee had gone missing on the night that a brutal massacre took place in the suburbs of Levesque City and asking if someone had seen her and call the police as soon as they did so. Sara was sure that all the victims have been identified and it would be likely that a colleague of hers at the diner would know that she went to Mandy's party that night... and yet nobody had bothered to report her missing. This cemented the thought that she meant nothing to everyone, like it always had been, except for Baron. But Sara was fine with it, though. All the other people were less than nothing to her as well. It made her even more willing to help Baron with stopping Finn. And maybe, just maybe... after they would be done with Finn, they could go after the scum that bastard chose to protect. Sara would show no mercy on them.

It didn't last too long before Baron and Sara found themselves walking near an abandoned construction site, not too far away from all the stores. Not one construction worker could be seen, the last one that must have shown up here was possibly over a year ago, when the project was dropped. Nobody else could be seen in this wasteland of old wooden beams and rusty tools. Looking at the big abandoned apartment complex made goose bumps decorate Sara's arms. The apartment complex reminded her of a haunted house, it looked so desolate, unkempt and, without a doubt, haunting. If they had kept working on it for a couple more months, it must've looked so nice for people to live in... but thanks to whatever the reason was to stop the construction, it became an eerie sight to look at.

'Baron... do you think Finn could be hiding at places like these?' Sara asked. 'I know it sounds a bit weird, but-'

'Don't you fucking lie to me, _perro_! Tell me where he is!' a furious voice with a Spanish accent shouted behind a pile of wooden beams.

Sara didn't need any words to ask Baron what the hell that was; her wide eyes said it all. He too wondered what the shouting was all about and who knows... maybe it could be useful for his search. They got closer to the pile of wooden and looked at the back of a man, who had gotten on top of another man and didn't stop for one moment to take a break from beating the living shit out of him with the grip of his pistol. Blood splattered on the ground when a loud crack could be heard, but that didn't stop the man from bludgeoning his victim and shouting at him about the location of that ' _abominación_ '. Eventually the feet of the victim stopped twitching and almost immediately disintegrated into ashes. Looked like the poor sap was a demon...

With the ashes stained to his trousers, Alberto Del Rio stood up and loudly caught his breath. A vein on his right temple was pulsing and looked like it could pop at any moment.

'Damn it...' he hissed, droplets of spit falling in the pile of ash as he spoke. 'Not again... I haven't gotten a step closer to finding that goddamn freak...' The corrupted demon hunter kicked the ash, sending transparent clouds of grey everywhere. 'Where the hell are you, Finn Bálor?!' he yelled at the sky.

Unbeknownst to him, he had given Baron an idea. He gave Sara a small nod; she knew exactly what they were going to do, no words were needed.

Footsteps behind him made Alberto turn around and it took one punch to his head to make his world go dark.

* * *

Drifting in and out of consciousness, Alberto could feel that he was lying on a concrete floor. The unbearable smell of fungus mixed with dust completely filled his nose, becoming the only odor he could smell in this little world of black spots and blurry bricks. He was not back in St. John Hospital, that was for sure. No, he wasn't lying on a comfortable hospital bed and wasn't greeted by a nurse with blonde hair, red lips and an ass he'd love to give a good squeeze. An agonizing headache filled every empty spot in his head, which instantly ignited the burning rage he had been carrying from the day he was released from the hospital.

It was all the fault of that fucking abomination Finn Bálor. He had bashed his head against the wall in that alley until something in his head cracked. After that, he had escaped with that raven haired demon bitch, but not after he had threatened not to follow them. Alberto was so afraid at that moment, he stayed put until the Bastard Demon was out of his sight. He sat there on the ground until the first raindrops of the night landed on him. But when he left the alleyway, he felt a sharp pain in his head and collapsed. Someone must've found him and called an ambulance, because he woke up not much longer after he passed out in a hospital bed. The attractive nurse explained to him that he was at St. John Hospital and that he would have to stay there for a couple of days due to his head injury. During the days, Alberto went through scans, took his medication and ate bland hospital food. The doctors released him after he was deemed fully healed, but what they never detected on those scans was the burning hatred he held towards the freak that did this to him. The corrupted demon hunter swore that he would find Finn and kill him in the slowest and most agonizing way possible, he made it his damn life goal. He refused to call his buddies from the Legion Of Hunters for backup, no, he wanted to do this himself. Something had clearly snapped inside Alberto's head, because after he was released from the hospital, he was more aggressive than ever. His obsession consumed him, fueled his rage... turned him insane. Every demon he would encounter would be in for a brutal interrogation, which often ended deadly for the unfortunate demon. Alberto knew he had to control his murderous anger during those 'interrogations' if he wanted to find Finn, but his madness would always gain the upper hand.

But now that he was lying on the floor of the first floor of the abandoned apartment complex, he was going to be the one to be helpless against one's violence.

When the last black spots faded away, the corrupted demon hunter saw a pair of legs, clad in black leather and wearing black biker boots stepping in front of him. A hand roughly grabbed his arm and pulled him up. Alberto looked up and saw the person who had knocked him out cold earlier; Baron Corbin.

Paranoia instantly reared its ugly head. 'Who... the hell are you?' Alberto asked. 'You're one of Finn's buddies, aren't you? Yes, you must be. I knew it...' He let out a scoff. 'That _cobarde_... he knew I was coming for him, that's why he's now sending his friends after me. Don't think that I'm pissing myself in fear now, _amigo_. Oh no, no no no... you should be the one pissing yourself. Do you know who I am? I am-'

A kick was launched into Alberto's stomach, abruptly cutting him off. 'Shut up already. I don't give a damn about who you are.' Baron snarled.

The corrupted demon hunter let out a cough and suddenly noticed that his hands and feet were bound. He looked down and saw his feet tightly bound together with a thick ring of frozen ink. Frozen ink... Alberto looked back at Baron and saw the tattoos on his arms. Ah... it made perfects sense.

'Well I'll fucking be! You're an ink demon!' Ignoring the pain, Alberto curled his mouth into a cocky grin. 'You must be worth... let's see... five thousand dollars. Yes, that's it. A nice little bonus for me, if you'd ask me.'

Baron knelt down to Alberto's level and stared him in the eyes with such a cold look that his black ice nearly resembled his magical frozen ink. 'What are you talking about?'

'I'm a member of the Legion Of Hunters. Ever heard of them, _perro_? Killing demons like you is my living... and my passion.'

'Ah. So I guess you're one of those greedy scumbags. Let me tell you something, pal. I've always abhorred demon hunters, but a member of the Legion Of Hunters... you guys are the absolute fucking worst. You may a total piece of shit, but still... I could use you well. I heard you were searching for a certain person called... Finn Bálor, wasn't it? It just happens that I'm searching for him too...'

Then Baron pulled out his knife; staring right at the huge blade made the cocky grin disappear right off Alberto's face. Realizing what might be coming to him made all of his blood drain away from his face while he wiggled with his hands and feet in a attempt to break free... but to no avail.

'And you are going to help me to draw his attention.' Baron spoke calmly.

Sara, who was standing a few feet away from them, could feel her stomach clenching together when Alberto's final scream turned into sinister gurgling.


	25. We Need To Talk

**Chapter 25**

 **We Need To Talk**

After he had the talk with Dolph at the coffee shop in the morning, Finn decided to make a quick visit to the phone shop near the shopping mall to buy a new cell phone, unknowing about the grisly death of a certain corrupted demon hunter that was just taking place in an abandoned apartment complex at the moment. He couldn't borrow Paige's cell phone forever, he felt like it would be unfair towards her. Plus, she would be absolutely furious if he would accidently break it if he would unexpectedly encounter a demon. A few minutes later, the demon hunter exited the phone shop with a brand new cell phone in his pocket; hopefully this one would last a bit longer than the previous one did.

So it was Baron who was behind the slaughter in the city's suburbs... his hunch had been proven right. That bastard had been in Levesque City, he was so damn close to him and yet he didn't launch an attack on him. But why? Was the massacre just some sort twisted warm-up before the actual attack? Did he need to gather more strength to take him on? All of that was possible, and Finn knew that he had to stop the ink demon before more innocent victims would be hurt or even worse. The demon hunter returned to The Pentagram, where two teenagers were the first customers to enter the gothic shop, taking their time checking out the fashion and accessories. Paige was standing behind the cash register, but Finn didn't want to wait for the break to talk to her. He asked her if she had a moment; the demon witch must've realized that it was important, because she excused herself to the two customers, told them she was going to be back in a minute and followed Finn to the upstairs apartment.

'Bloody hell...' Paige whispered after the demon hunter had told her about what Dolph had told him. 'So it was him after all...'

'Aye. And I have the strong feelin' more people will die if I don't stop him, Paige. I need to find him!' Finn couldn't help but feel like a complete fool for not searching for the ink demon earlier, all because he wanted to be there for Paige... Fuck, what kind of demon hunter was he? He could already hear the voice of his deceased mentor in his head, lecturing him about one of the most disgraceful things a demon hunter could do; neglecting his duty. Collin Bálor would turn in his grave if he would hear that his pupil cared more about the health of a demon witch than going after a demon who wanted him dead.

Paige didn't reply immediately, glancing at the floor with a thoughtful look in her eyes. 'I think I have something that may make the search easier for you.' she said. She told Finn to wait there, quickly went to her bedroom and later came back with a bundle of keys in her hand. 'Follow me.'

They went down the stairs together and went back into the shop, where the two teenagers had already decided to make a purchase and were waiting at the cash register. Paige told them she would attend them in just a moment, which made one of the teens roll his eyes in mild annoyance. While they walked to a door in the far back of the store, Paige searched for the key she needed to open it; she had found the right key when they were just three steps away from reaching the door that would lead them into the backroom. She slipped the key inside the keyhole, twisted it and unlocked the door with one click. Finn followed her inside.

Looking around, he always had the feeling that he had stepped inside a fantasy world. The walls were painted dark red, which already gave the backroom a bit of a mysterious atmosphere. Dark grey tapestry with pentagrams weaved in them covered most of the walls. The red candles weren't lit, but they were clearly used a lot. A big, round, oak table was put in the middle of the room, the table leaf was covered with a big mirror with the same shape as the table. He saw glass bottles in different sizes and shapes in the big, wooden cabinet in the left corner of the room, containing powders, roots and liquids. Paige walked to a wooden chest on the right side of the backroom and opened it. Peeking over her shoulder, the demon hunter saw that the chest was filled to the brim with all kinds of mysterious-looking relics, like golden goblets, beaded strings, old books and he could even spot a dagger.

'Let's see, where is it?' the demon witch mumbled while she rummaged through the items. 'I'm pretty sure it was in here, I had seen it the other day... Come on, where is that bloody thing? Hmm... Ah! There it is!'

She got up and turned around, facing Finn and presenting him with a gorgeous amulet. The dark blue gem was set in a round, iron frame. A black leather cord was attached to it. Upon closer inspection, Finn could see that the blue gem was decorated with black lines that resembled cracks.

'This is an amulet that can detect ink demons and their magic.' Paige explained while she handed over the amulet to the demon hunter. 'If you will get close to Baron or the places where his powers have been the most active, it will react to his presence. Like this, you should be able to find him. Now go! Quick!'

'Thanks, Paige.' Finn turned around and walked away from her, but just when he wanted to exit the backroom, Paige felt the need to say something else to him.

'And... Finn?'

'Aye?' the demon hunter halted in the doorway and looked over his shoulder. He could clearly see a hint of worry on his landlady's face.

'Good luck. And please... be careful. Baron is a dangerous demon.' she said.

Finn gave her a small smile, but deep inside he knew that it wasn't enough to completely reassure her that everything was going to be fine. 'Don't ya worry about. I will be fine, I know what I'm doin'. Baron won't know what's comin' to him.'

* * *

All of that happened a few hours ago and much to Finn's frustration, the amulet hadn't reacted to Baron's presence for once during the entire time.

While he explored nearly every location in Levesque City he could think of, he expected the magic amulet to react at any moment by glowing, twitching, or even by leading him directly to him just like Joelle's book did when she was in grave danger, but nothing happened. It was almost like Paige had played a joke on him by giving him an ordinary piece of cheap jewelry you could buy at one of those stores with knock-off products, but he knew that she wouldn't do something like that. Paige wanted Baron to be stopped just as much as he did, this wouldn't be the time to pull pranks on him. The female demon was always dead serious when it came to taking down malicious demons.

Finn searched at every location that came to his mind that afternoon, and when his frustration started to grow, he went as far to go visit places where it would be most unlikely for Baron to be at, like the city's library and even the shopping mall. Searching at those places proved to be a waste of his time. Along with the frustration, something else was brewing inside him... and it was much darker than said frustration. Finn could hear the demon inside him growling with a low, inhuman voice, as if it was urging him to let him out. It always wanted to get out, but now he was being louder than usual. The demon hunter managed to catch a glimpse of the monster that was hiding inside him when he walked past a large window of one of the stores upon leaving the shopping mall. His reflection perfectly captured the image of his demonic self, his skin as black as the night, red veins pulsing on his limbs, claws and teeth white and razor sharp and growling at him as if he was resenting Finn for keeping him in check for so long. Unmoved by the demon's threatening appearance, Finn mumbled at him to fuck off and since then he hadn't seen him once during the entire afternoon.

The demon inside him had thankfully obeyed him again... but for how much longer was he going to stay put?

Was Baron still present in Levesque City or had he already left? It could explain why the amulet wasn't reacting to him. But Finn didn't want to give up, he had to find the ink demon, even if would take an entire day for him, hell, he considered to search outside the city if his search proved to be useless in the end. Levesque City was pretty big, so there was still a chance. Sooner or later his lucky break had to come, it just had to be! It was around four o'clock when Finn exited the shopping mall and thought about searching at the abandoned industrial area near one of the city's many canals. He knew that demon's often preferred to hide at deserted buildings, so the chance that he would find him there would be quite big. Fuck, why didn't he thing of that earlier? Mentally slapping himself on the forehead, the demon hunter headed to the industrial area, which was located on the other side of the city. It took him about more than half an hour to get there.

While he searched the abandoned factories, Finn expected the amulet to react at any given moment... but to no avail. Not even here he could find Baron. Outside, it nearly looked like the demon hunter had finally reached his boiling point when he actually considered to throw that damn amulet in the calmly plashing waters of the canal, but he managed to control his anger. Deep inside he knew he had to stay calm, or else the mission could turn into a complete failure. Finn looked at the sky and saw that the sun was going down at any moment, coloring the sky in a very gentle shade of orange. Sunsets were absolutely wonderful to look at during the summer, Finn had always thought that, ever since he was a little lad. But right now it was the last thing that was on his mind.

'Where the hell are ya, Baron?' Finn growled, clenching his fists in his pockets.

Just then, he heard the soft rustling of wings behind him. The sound was so soft, as if the wings were entirely made out of... feathers. Finn immediately turned around and the sight confirmed his suspicion.

It was Roman; as soon as the angel's feet touched the ground, his wings retracted into his back.

'Roman..' the demon hunter mumbled, already preparing himself for the now inevitable. Damn, how long had he been following him? While he slowly walked towards the angel, he could feel his dark powers already pulsing through the veins of his arms. 'You've come here to fight me again? Well, that's fine with me, pal. I'm ready to fight ya. Give it all ya got, 'cause I'm not going to hold back this-'

'I'm not here to fight you.' Roman calmly replied.

Finn stopped dead in his tracks, slightly widening his blue-grey eyes in surprise. He frowned in confusion. What the hell was with this sudden change of heart? Inside his head, the demon hunter heavily debated whether he should let his guard down. He had only encountered Roman two times, both of them were everything but friendly. On both occasions he wanted to bash his goddamn brains in, this could be a dirty trick for all that mattered. Apparently Roman could see the doubt on Finn's face.

'I'm telling you the truth.' he said. 'If I wanted to attack you, I would've done that already. Like I said, I'm not here to fight you, Finn. I'm just here to talk to you. That's all. Only that and nothing else.'

But Finn was still not entirely convinced about the true intentions of the angel. 'Just... talkin'?'

'Exactly. I understand how you feel about this, but you have to believe me. It's... it's about my daughter.'

'Ya mean Joelle?' The powers he was about to unleash on the angel slowly retreated from his arms, stopping the pulsing in Finn's veins. He stored his powers away for now; if this turned out to be a lie, he wouldn't hesitate to use them.

Roman nodded. 'Yes. I would never lie if it comes to my child.'

It was quiet for a moment, that is if the barely audible plashing of the water in the canal. 'Alright then.' Finn eventually said. 'Let's talk.'

'Very well. You see, I want to know something, Finn. Is it true what Joelle said about you? Is it true that you were the one who saved her from her kidnapper?'

'What do ya mean by that?'

'She... she was kidnapped on that day. It was the most agonizing day of my life, you can't even imagine. It felt like a nightmare I was unable to wake up from. I was convinced that I would never see my little girl again... and yet she arrived home safe and sound at night. She told me that the 'sad man' from the park had saved her from that sick fuck who had taken her. I'll be honest with you... I could hardly believe it. Hell, I didn't want to believe it at first. But she knew your name. And now I want to know, half-demon... were you the one who saved Joelle? Tell me now, honestly.'

The demon hunter nodded. 'Aye, it was me, Roman. I saw all about Joelle's disappearance on the news that night. I had to help her, I couldn't ignore it, I couldn't live with the thought of her being hurt. She had forgotten her book at the park, it was thanks to a friend that I could use it to find her. I found the little lass at an abandoned factory... and I found her just in time. Whatever that son of a bitch wanted to do to her, he wanted to hurt her badly. I have made absolutely sure he was never goin' to try hurtin' another child again. After that, I brought Joelle back to her home. You've seen her yerself. All of this is the truth, Roman, and nothin' else.'

'My God...' the angel mumbled after all of this sank into him. He remembered the book Joelle was holding in her hands when she arrived home. It was the real copy she had owned from the moment he had given it to her on her eight birthday, it had the exact same folds on some pages, it even had the same drop of dried-up blood on the twelfth page (a reminder of a nasty paper cut Joelle once suffered); it was indeed her book. Finn must've been keeping it until they would meet again... 'So she was speaking the truth after all...' The angel looked Finn straight in the eyes, finally believing everything now that he had heard the confirmation. 'Finn... I can't thank you enough for saving Joelle. You have saved the most precious person in my life, no, the most precious person in this entire realm. It's all thanks to you that she's still alive. You were there for her...'

Roman glanced at the canal's water and slowly breathed out through his nose. Something was clearly bothering him, Finn could see it in his piercing blue eyes.

'Is there something wrong, Roman?' he asked.

The angel let out a sigh and shook his head. 'I feel like such a worthless father.' he mumbled. 'I should've been the one to rescue her. A good father should always be there for his child, he will always be able to protect her, no matter what. But I failed. Damn it, it was all my fault. If I had arrived at her school in time, she would've never been kidnapped. She wouldn't have to spend hours fearing for her own life. Believe me when I say I have searched for her. I have searched through the city for what felt like a goddamn eternity. I have called out her name, looked into alleyways, asked people if they had seen her, I have even asked my comrades Dean and Renee to help me searching for her. They too have done their best, but even they couldn't find her. I had no other choice but to report her missing. I could barely look my own wife in the eyes when I told her about it when she came home from work. Joelle was out there somewhere being held captive and I couldn't find her. Her own father... While I was at home with the police officers, I thought she was resenting me so much for not being able to rescue her. It felt like I had ruined the trust she had in me. God, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her there in the dark. I was so relieved that my baby girl was okay... but I can't help but feel so goddamn guilty. Let me ask you something, Finn... have you ever loved someone so much that you can't live with the thought of them being harmed in any kind of way?'

A mental image of Becky's face flashed through Finn's mind; he had to quickly blink his eyes a couple of times to fight back the tears. 'Aye.'

'Well, Joelle is that kind of person to me. I remember the day my wife showed me the positive pregnancy test. A child... we were going to have a child together. I was so ecstatic about the news, but at the same time, I was afraid. Since my wife is a human and I'm an angel, I knew the chance of our child being born stillborn, the pregnancy gruesomely ending with a miscarriage or even my wife dying during childbirth was huge, but we decided to give it a shot anyway. And then the big day finally came after nine long months... Galina survived the childbirth and Joelle was alive and well. From the moment I held her in my arms, I swore to God that I would everything in my power to let her grow up in a safe world. I wanted to create a safe world for her. I admit, it's my obsession. I already had failed to restore the Angel Realm and saving my comrades when it was overflowed with demons... but I was and still am convinced that I would never be able to live with myself if I would fail to protect Joelle. When I received visions of you, I thought you were out there to hurt her. That's why I wanted to take you down. But now I finally see that you were never a threat... I'm such a fool.'

'Roman, listen to me.' Finn said. He put his hand on the angel's shoulder and thought for a split second about the possibility of him swatting it away; but it didn't happen. 'Ye're not a worthless father. I don't think ya ever were. I have seen the rage in your eyes back at the park when Joelle was talking to me. Only a man who wouldn't give a damn about his child will never possess that kind of rage. I know how ya feel about creatin' a better world for her. Sometimes I wish I could do the same thing as well, for the sake of humanity. But that's impossible, I have seen that by now. Ya can never remove all that's evil in this world, but there's one thing ya can do to make it better. Just be the man that Joelle can look up to no matter how old she will become. Give her all the unconditional love ya have, make sure to make time for her, be present in her life. If ya do that, the world will already be a wonderful place in her eyes. Who knows, maybe it wouldn't even matter to her if it would burn down one day, as long as she has her father around. There will a day where she will live her own life and ya will have to let her go... but that doesn't mean ya will have to love her any less. Ya can't control everythin' that goes on in this world and will never wipe out all that's bad, but like I said... as long as ye're a good father to Joelle, it will already be good enough for her.'

Again, there fell a brief silence.

'You know...' Roman spoke. 'Maybe that's what my visions were trying to tell me all along.'

'What do ya mean?'

'That I can't control everything. I have the feeling that those visions were not predicting you harming Joelle... they were predicting you saving her. It all makes sense now... I wasn't in any of those visions, because I wasn't present to save her, but you were. Joelle was screaming in one the visions, but not because of you... it was because of her kidnapper. They were trying to tell me this all along, but I immediately looked at the dark side of those visions. You are right, Finn. I can't control everything and I never will. I will have to accept that. I'm going to try my absolute best to be the kind of father Joelle deserves. Thank you so much for making me realize that. And I'm truly sorry for all the trouble I've caused you.'

The demon hunter smiled reassuringly at the angel. 'Don't worry about that. I'm always in for a good brawl, ya know.'

Roman couldn't help but let out a brief chuckle. 'Glad to hear that.'

'But... there was something else that happened in the factory.'

'What happened?'

'When I arrived, I saw that Joelle had grown a pair of wings, just like you. Do ya know about that? Does she know... what ya really are?'

Roman nodded. 'Yes. She had told me about it before she went to sleep. I explained it all to her. I warned her not to show her wings to the other kids, because God knows what they might do to her. But she seemed to take it pretty good.'

'That's good. I hope she's holdin' up well.'

'She was still a bit shaken up for a while, but now it looks like she's doing fine again.'

'Ah. I'm glad to hear that.'

'Finn...' Roman reached out his hand, as if he was awaiting a handshake. 'If there is anything I can do for you, you can count on me. I owe you one, big time. You will forever have my gratitude for what you have done for not only me, but for my family as well. I can't thank you enough for saving my little girl.'

Finn gave him a nod and gave him a firm handshake, sealing the burial of the hatchet. 'Thank you, Roman. Ya know... there is actually somethin' I need help with.'

'And that is?' the angel asked, letting go of the demon hunter's hand.

'There is this ink demon on the loose. His name is Baron Corbin. He's already caused much trouble and I have to find him before things will get worse. I don't have any real description of him, but if ya do see an ink demon around this area, ya can give me a call. I can give you my cell phone number if ya want.'

'Very well. I will give you mine too.'

After they traded their cell phone numbers, Roman briefly patted Finn on his shoulder. 'I will keep an eye out for that guy, I promise. As soon as I spot him, I will give you a call. And Finn... I know I have said this already many times before, but... thank you for everything. Good luck.'

In the blink of an eye, Roman's wings reemerged from his back and moved them, creating a powerful gust that allowed him to ascend into the air. Then he flew away; Finn watched until he disappeared out of his sight. Looking away, he saw that the sun had almost completely gone down, almost disappearing down the horizon. Oh man, had they been talking for that long? Suddenly, Finn was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the ringtone of his new cell phone. He fished it out of his pocket and saw a familiar phone number displayed on the screen. He pressed a button and held the cell phone against his ear. 'Hello?'

'Finn, it's Dolph.' the blonde detective replied on the other side of the line. 'I need you to come over as quick as you can.'

'Uh, sure. Where are ya?'

Something about Dolph's voice didn't make Finn feel at ease at all; he could swear that he sounded like he had stumbled upon something truly disturbing.


	26. Believe Me

**Chapter 26**

 **Believe Me**

Bright red and blue lights took quick turns in illuminating the walls of the surrounding buildings that just happened to be close enough to the abandoned construction site. Seeing those lights was more than enough to catch people's attention and make them flock to the crime scene like moths to a beacon. The only things that could keep them at bay were the yellow police tapes that taped off the area and the white plastic tarp that made it impossible for the onlookers to see what exactly the forensic team was taking pictures of... and that was probably a good thing.

Staring at the grotesque sight made Dolph almost desire a cigarette to ease the sickening feeling in his stomach. The detective's fingertips touched the carton package in the pocket of his jeans, but at the last moment he decided not to take a cigarette. He withdrew his hand from his pocket and took a deep breath. He remembered a trick he learned from his late colleague Ettore Langston during the time they worked together. They were sitting at a bar one time after work, yes, he clearly remembered that. What was Ettore drinking again? Oh yeah, right, he had a beer, just like Dolph. There was also a football match on the bar's TV, but Dolph couldn't remember which teams were playing on that night.

'Ettore, how come you always stay so calm whenever you enter a crime scene?' the blonde detective had asked. 'Don't you ever feel scared or anything about what you're going to see?'

His colleague had briefly laughed. 'Of course I do feel something, man.' he said. 'But I have my own way of staying calm whenever I see a body. I concentrate on the lyrics of the last song I have heard, trust me, it really works. Maybe you should try it as well, Dolph.'

Those words had stuck with him ever since. There had been occasions where the crime scene was that gruesome that the blonde detective decided to put this technique to work. And he would be damned, it actually worked; Dolph hoped that Ettore got a very special spot in Heaven. Because holy hell, he could really use Ettore's technique now. What was the last song he listened to today? Dolph managed to remember it and remembered the lyrics and played them in his mind over and over again, focusing on it. But what he saw that summer night even put this way of staying calm to the test on so many levels.

The severed head of Alberto Del Rio, member of the Legion Of Hunters and a first-class greedy scumbag, was impaled on one of the thick, rusty, iron cables that could be found sticking out of the ground all over the construction site. Dolph was so grateful for the tarp, because goddamn it, he was convinced that the onlookers would need some good counseling after seeing this. Alberto's mouth was forever frozen in a silent scream. His eyes were almost completely rolled into the back of his head. Blood had dried up around his mouth. Droplets of blood had stained the earth surrounding the cable and dripped down the rust. All of them were nightmare-inducing details the members of the forensic team were forced to photograph, but one of the details had to be the most fucked up one without a doubt.

A name he knew very well was carved on Alberto's forehead in bloody letters... and the name was Finn.

Dolph had to know it, he just had to fucking know whether his demon hunter friend was behind this grisly murder, that's why he had called him. That was half an hour ago, maybe more if he remembered correctly. The call that had lead the police to the bloody crime scene was made by a teenage couple, who stumbled upon the severed head when they decided to explore the abandoned construction site; the blonde detective had the strong suspicion that they chose this spot for a quick fuck session, but the gruesome discovery would sure be more than enough to make the lust disappear. But this wasn't the first horrifying crime scene he had entered today.

It looked like the families of the missing men who had visited Club Bella finally had the rest they longed for; the dead bodies of the men were found in a sewer pipe on a part of Levesque City's beach that was inaccessible for the general public. The stench of the bodies was absolutely unbearable, but thankfully Dolph had made it through that part of the day without vomiting.

The blonde detective walked away from the severed head to see if Finn had already arrived. The crowd of people had thinned out a bit, maybe because most people realized that there weren't going to catch a glimpse of whatever was going on behind that tarp anytime soon. The sun had gone down and there was only one lamppost near the construction site, making it kind of hard to spot him. Dolph slightly squinted his eyes and looked around. And he spotted him. Finn was standing near an alleyway, distancing himself from the small crowd but close enough for Dolph to see him. Good, they wouldn't see them together in that alleyway and the onlookers would probably think Finn was another detective. Now he had just to find the perfect way to distract his colleagues for a moment... and he just knew how.

'Ryder!' he called out.

Officer Zack Ryder, a man in his early thirties with short brown hair and neatly trimmed facial hair and recently assigned as Dolph's new partner, looked up; the blonde detective thought he was a good guy. He had just finished talking to a member of the forensic team. 'Yeah, bro?'

'Go inside the building with the guys, see if you can find some more evidence!'

Zack gave him a nod, told his colleagues to go inside the unfinished apartment complex and walked away. Dolph watched until he was sure that everyone was inside. Then he ducked underneath the tape and headed towards Finn, who was waiting for him at the entrance of the dark alley. Thankfully the onlookers had more eye for the forensic team entering the apartment complex than for the blonde detective.

'Dolph, what's goin' on there?' the demon hunter asked when they entered the alley. 'What happened?'

Not saying a word, Dolph took a photograph out of his pocket and showed the grisly captured image to Finn. His eyes slightly widened with surprise and horror. A chill went up his spine when he laid eyes upon Alberto's severed head, but when he saw that his name was carved on his forehead, he thought he was going to feel sick to his stomach with utter shock.

'This is what happened.' Dolph replied, putting the photograph back in his pocket. 'Finn... I called you to come to this place because I have to know. I didn't want to wait for it, I simply couldn't. Tell me the truth, Finn... are you behind this?'

'Of course not! Why the bloody hell would ya suspect me, Dolph! Ya know me! I wouldn't do somethin' like that!'

'Then why the fuck is your name carved on his forehead?!' the blonde detective replied with a hushed voice. He didn't want to believe that it was his friend who did this, he honestly didn't want to... but something inside him found it so hard to believe him. 'Explain that to me! Did you at least know this guy?!'

Finn nodded. 'I do remember him. I've met him a few days ago. His name was Alberto, he is... well, was a member of the Legion Of Hunters.'

'The what?'

'Never mind. To cut to the chase, yeah, I do know him. And he was a real big piece of shite, let me tell ya that. He attacked Paige once and tried to kill her, all for the bloody money. Dolph, please, for the love of God, ya have to believe me! Aye, I fuckin' hated that guy for what he did to Paige, but I didn't kill him!' The demon hunter suddenly paused when a realization struck him like a lightning bolt. 'But... I may know who did. I can prove it to ya.'

'How?'

'Here, I'll show ya.' Finn dove his hand into the pocket of his leather jacket and took out the magical amulet. He handed it over to the blonde detective. 'This amulet belongs to Paige. It can detect ink demons and their magic. If an ink demon has been here and put his powers to work, his magic will linger here. See it as fingerprints, if ya will. Hold it near his head and ya will see. Please, Dolph... ya have to believe me.'

The blonde detective twiddled the amulet between his fingers, as if he was lost in his thoughts. This wasn't the first time he was holding an enchanted item that came from the demon witch in his hands, so he didn't find it hard to believe that the amulet was indeed enchanted. He seriously hoped that Finn was telling the truth. Dolph looked up.

'Stay here.' he said. He put the amulet in his pocket, turned around and walked away, heading back to the crime scene. He noticed that more onlookers had walked away and that Zack and the others were still inside the building, much to his relief. He disappeared behind the tarp where Alberto's head was shielded from the eyes of the onlookers and once he was absolutely sure that nobody could see him, Dolph pulled out the amulet. This was it; this piece of jewelry had to prove Finn's innocence. But just as he wanted to hold it near the head, something inside the blonde detective told him not to believe the demon hunter. What if the amulet would react to any kind of demon magic besides ink demon magic? If that was true, Finn would've used an ink demon as a scapegoat and he would get away from this crime. But Dolph shook off that thought; if this was the case, then the amulet would've also reacted to Finn's presence, right? After all, he knew that he was a half-demon. Enough with the bullshit, he was going to do this. Dolph practically held his breath when he held the amulet near Alberto's head... and it was immediately proved that Finn was innocent.

'Holy hell...' the blonde detective whispered to himself.

The gem of the amulet illuminated with a bright blue glow, reacting to the presence, just like the demon hunter had told him. Of course his colleagues weren't going to believe him if he would tell them that he used a magical amulet to trace demon magic, but at least it was confirmed that his friend was not the one who butchered this man like a damn pig. He put the amulet back in his pocket and walked back to Finn; all onlookers were gone now.

'And?' the demon hunter asked. 'Do ya believe me now?'

Dolph, taken a little aback by the magic he saw with his own eyes, nodded. 'Yeah... the amulet did react when I used it. I'm sorry for doubting you, Finn.' He gave the amulet back to him.

'It's fine, don't worry.' Finn calmly replied, putting the amulet in the pocket of his jacket. 'I have a strong feelin' about who this ink demon might be...'

'Who is it? Tell me, we can find this guy while he's still on the loose!'

'No, ya don't!' Finn replied with a sudden fierceness in his voice. 'I know this bloke, Dolph. He is Baron Corbin and he's one mean fucker. He is responsible for the deaths of those people in the suburbs and I'm sure as hell that he is responsible for the massacre at the trailer park as well. He wants to challenge me, he's here in this city and he wants to draw my attention, that's probably why he carved my name on Alberto's head. This is something between him and me! Yer men are not capable of takin' him on, he will kill them before one of them will even fire the first bullet! Dolph, ye're a good guy, but if ya don't want Kaitlyn to become a widow yet, ya better stay out of this. Just let me do this! I will stop him!'

And before Dolph could answer back, Finn turned around and ran off into the darkness of the alleyway.

* * *

'Hey Sara, how are you holding up?' Baron's voice asked in the darkness of another alley not too far away from the abandoned construction site.

'Um... what?' Sara replied, snapped out of her thoughts. 'Sorry, what did you say Baron?'

'You've been so quiet during the rest of the day, why is that? Are you feeling alright?'

'Yeah, I'm fine, I'm... just feeling a bit nauseous, that's all.'

Oh yes, Sara was feeling nauseous alright; she felt like that from the moment her partner in crime cut the head off that man at the construction site with unsettling ease. She had heard the blade of his knife slicing through his flesh, blood dripping on the concrete floor and the man's death scream that quickly turned into sinister gurgling; all of those sounds had haunted her for the entire day. Sara thought she could take it, but oh God, the sight, those noises... it was too much for her. But Baron didn't seem to be fazed by the murder for one bit, which was actually no surprise; Sara knew that he had killed before. Hell, he even whistled when he took the severed head and carved Finn's name on the forehead, as if he was carving a fucking pumpkin for Halloween. After he had impaled the head on the iron cable, Baron had turned to Sara and asked if she wanted to eat something, as if nothing had happened to make her stomach feel like it contained a big stone. At a diner in the center of the city, he ordered a baguette with ham and cheese for her, but she could barely eat it.

They had waited for the sun to go down and it was finally dark enough in the city. Despite the gruesome sight, Sara hadn't made a single attempt to get away from Baron... because her wrathful desire to stop Finn Bálor and punish him for protecting people like her parents and the residents of her hometown was much stronger than that.

'It's because of that guy back at the construction site, isn't it?' the ink demon suddenly asked, as if he could read Sara's mind. She blinked her eyes in surprise and opened her mouth to speak, but then she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. Baron looked her straight in the eyes, but not in a threatening way. He looked at her like... he cared about her. 'Think about this, Sara. You have heard him speaking, right? He was one of those bastards you have despised your entire life, just another scumbag of society. He wanted to kill me for money... I'd say that this says a whole fucking lot about himself. And who knows, maybe he could've killed you too, even if you weren't worth any money. I know demon hunters like him, they won't hesitate to kill a demon for some good cash, even if it didn't do anything to him or humanity. We have done every demon in this realm a huge favor by killing him.'

Strangely enough, those words were able to put Sara a little bit at ease. She had seen the look in that man's eyes when they approached him... it were the eyes of a madman. God, she couldn't stand the thought of something happening to Baron... 'Yeah... I guess so.' she mumbled.

'Good.' The ink demon gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. 'Don't think about it anymore, okay? It's over now.'

'Baron... can I ask you something?'

'Sure, what is it?'

'What are we going to do after we are done with Finn? I'm just wondering, you know...'

The ink demon took this chance to fill Sara's head with more lies; it was a perfect opportunity. 'I have been thinking about that a lot.' he replied. 'At first I planned to go back to my home realm, the Demon Realm, alone as soon as I would be done with that son of a bitch. But...' His hand slowly traveled up and touched Sara's soft cheek; the touch caused her to let out a soft, inaudible gasp and her cheeks to color red. Despite the darkness, she could see a small smile on Baron's face. 'Now that I have met you, there might be a change of plans. You can come with me to the Demon Realm, Sara. I know it may look strange and dangerous to you at first, but I honestly believe you will be fine. You're strong, I have seen it. We will write history together. We, the couple who has taken down the notorious Finn Bálor. The demons will respect you, you will receive the respect you have deserved all along. Just think about it... You and me. Respected by many. Living a new life.'

As the blush on her cheeks turned redder and redder, Sara could already imagine it all; traveling to a supernatural realm she had never heard of, leaving this world of abusers and cowards behind her... and starting a new life with Baron. Baron, the only man who has ever cared about her and despite his rough edges... loved her. Sara smiled from ear to ear, she felt so happy, it nearly brought tears to her eyes. 'That sounds wonderful...' she whispered.

Unfortunately she had no idea that all of these promises were nothing more but pure lies; as soon as Baron would get what he wanted, he'd toss her aside like an used toy and go back to the Demon Realm himself to claim his reputation and never bat an eye about her. But it didn't cross her mind, that had been warped after the ink demon's kindness after experiencing twenty-three long years of lovelessness and agonizing abuse, for one moment.

'Say, how about we draw Finn's attention just a little bit more?' Baron asked while slowly circling his thumb over his cheek. 'Just to let him know that we're coming for him...'

Just then, his eye fell on a store on the other side of the street.

The name of that store was The Pentagram... and there was still light burning inside.


	27. Wake Up

**Chapter 27**

 **Wake Up**

Well, it looked like business for today had been going easy on her. Besides the two teenagers that visited her precious shop in the morning, only a woman in her mid-forties who happened to be a regular customer decided to drop by to check out the new collection and have a little chit-chat with her about an upcoming concert of a symphonic metal band that had become rather popular recently; it had been a calm day today for Paige.

At least it was better than nothing, there had been days where absolutely nobody would visit The Pentagram; those days had to be the most boring ones, besides dusting off the mannequins and cleaning the front window of the store there would be absolutely nothing to do. But that was all before Finn arrived in her life... The demon witch hummed in amusement when she thought about it. She opened the door of the storeroom in her apartment, took out a broom and dustpan and went back down to the shop. Ever since she decided to give the demon hunter a roof over his head after he managed to convince her not to kick him out, her life had changed so much. Who ever knew that the person she was supposed to despise so much would actually become the closest friend she ever had? Paige had never thought she was ever going to care about Finn's wellbeing whenever he went out to do his job. Hell, there were even times she feared he was dead whenever he didn't pick up his cell phone, he had grown onto her that much.

The raven-haired demon was sure that she had locked the front door of the shop earlier. She brushed over the wooden floor with the broom, swiping up a bit of dirt. The smell of lavender had thinned out a lot by now, which reminded her that she was almost out of incense; maybe she could go to the mall tomorrow and buy some more. She no longer felt any pain in her leg, much to her relief. Glancing outside, Paige saw that it was already dark. The light of one of the lampposts illuminated the sidewalk on the other side of the street, occasionally flickering.

'It's the perfect night for demons to come out...' the demon witch mumbled to herself; she barely noticed the goose bumps that appeared over her pale arms.

Speaking of which... had Finn already tracked down Baron by this time? She dearly hoped so. God knows how close that bastard could be. After she had closed down the shop, Paige didn't want to wait longer for the answer and called the demon hunter, who claimed that he hadn't found the ink demon yet, but was on his way to Dolph to talk about something. Paige hoped that the detective may have some clues that could lead to Baron. Finn told her that he would call back if something useful came out of the talk with Dolph, but he hadn't called back yet... which briefly made the demon witch think that something bad had happened to him. She really had to fight back the mental image of Baron ambushing the demon hunter in the dark of the night and brutally beating him before tearing off his head with his bare hands; God, she could practically hear the stomach-churning sounds of tearing flesh, splashing blood and breaking bones in her head... Clenching her eyes shut, she shook her head as if she tried to shake out the horrifying thought out of her head. Her hands were gripping so tightly around the plastic handle of the broom that it nearly cracked.

'Damn it, girl! Don't think like that!' Paige whispered. 'He will be fine, he knows what he's doing...'

Yes, she was convinced about that. She knew that Finn had been hunting demons for years, no way in hell would he allow a demon to sneak up on him and try to kill him. The demon witch calmed down, let out a sigh and continued sweeping the floor. She promised herself to make another call after five minutes if she still hadn't heard anything by then.

Suddenly the silence in The Pentagram was broken by three knocks on the door. Paige looked up and by accident she loudly blurted out her friend's name in surprise. 'Finn?'

Whoever knocked on the door didn't reply for a few seconds. More rapid knocks then followed, now accompanied by the voice of a distressed woman.

'Oh thank God! Please, let me in! I'm begging you! Oh my God, no, he's getting closer! Whoever you are, please, let me inside! Please!' she begged, emitting the last word with a sob.

The demon witch didn't think twice about it. She ran to the door, took out the right key, unlocked the door and opened it, all while wondering what the hell was going on there. Were these cries of help coming from one of the many poor saps who made the mistake of dating a guy who would turn into a violent son of a bitch when things didn't go his way or a woman who was unfortunate enough to become a target of a thief who was about to snatch her belongings before she could make a run for it? She was going to find out soon about that.

Immediately after the door was opened, a young woman from around Paige's age with a small silver ring pierced in her right nostril and long hair of which the upper part was brown and the lower part dyed blonde stumbled inside The Pentagram, out of breath and nearly tripping over her own feet.

Paige had no idea that this woman was in fact Sara Lee, a woman who had been missing for nearly a week and had returned to the city today with a burning hatred for a certain demon hunter.

'Christ, are you alright, dear?' the female demon asked with a worried voice. She quickly shut the door before focusing back on the trembling young woman, putting her hand on her back in an attempt to calm her down; the poor thing looked like she had seen a ghost.

'Thank... you...' she panted, still trying to catch her breath. 'I can't believe he was this close to catching me...'

'Who was chasing you?' Paige asked. 'It's okay, you're safe now. You can tell me. Do you know him?'

'Uh, no... I-I've never seen him in my life. It was a guy, a pretty tall guy, I think it was a biker. His arms were covered in tattoos...'

'And where is he now?'

Sara suddenly stopped trembling and looked Paige straight in the eyes. The fright on her face had disappeared in an instant and her mouth was curled into a small grin. A mischievous twinkle could be spotted in the a corner of her left eye. Upon seeing this whole new facial expression, Paige could feel her guts tying themselves into a knot... realizing that she had fallen into a trap in the blink of an eye.

'Don't worry.' Sara replied. 'He will be here in a second after I'm done with you.'

And before Paige could react, Sara had already grabbed her by the throat and managed to lift her two centimeters in the air, all thanks to the strength the tattoo Baron had given her produced, squeezing the demon witch's throat shut in the process. It was Baron who had convinced her earlier to go inside and weaken their target, since he claimed to see the 'strength' inside Sara to do so. Yes, she had hesitated a bit at first, but when she heard Paige exclaiming Finn's name, it was enough to flip the switch in her head, promptly convinced that anyone who was associated with the demon hunter was just as bad as he was. She and Baron were the good guys here, not them. Letting out a grunt, Sara send Paige flying through the store with abnormal strength that almost even surprised her, throwing her against a glass display cabinet full with accessories. The raven-haired demon crashed into it, causing the glass to shatter upon impact and the accessories to fall on the ground. Tiny pieces of glass dug into her pale arms, drawing blood. Paige shakily whimpered, the world around her looked like it was spinning. But she managed to quickly pull herself together... and that's when her rage kicked in.

'No... fucking... way...' she growled. She looked up and revealed her glowing eyes to her attacker, shining with a dark blue light. Energy with that same color pulsed through the veins in her forearms, making them visible. Sara saw it all, but instead of flinching, she prepared herself for an incoming attack.

'Not in my store!' Paige screamed furiously at the top of her lungs. And upon shouting those words, she unleashed a wave of demonic energy that flood through The Pentagram, strong enough to knock over the racks with fashion, the mannequins, the glass display cabinets and Sara. She briefly shrieked when she was flung to the floor, painfully landing on her arm. Paige saw her chance and immediately got back up on her feet. Pieces of glass crunched underneath her feet when she charged towards Sara, ready to strike her in the face with a fist glowing with energy. Still dazed by the impact, Sara saw the demon witch running towards her. Just then, she felt a new kind of power brewing in the ink of her tattoo; whatever it was, she had to use it now. She concentrated on the power and when Paige was just a few steps away from her, she unleashed it. A broad, short, low wall of frozen black and red ink with huge spikes rose from the floor, shielding Sara. The long, sharp spikes were pointed right at the demon witch; if Paige hadn't stopped running on that moment, she would've been brutally impaled. But she had seen it just in time and immediately halted. Despite the adrenaline pumping in her veins, she could feel a shiver running up her spine when she realized that she could've met her possible demise if she kept running. Sara didn't hesitate and jumped over the low wall, which immediately dissolved into liquid ink before her legs could touch the sharp spikes. With all the strength she had, she tackled Paige to the ground, grabbed her shoulders and started to slam the back of her head against the floor. Stars appeared in front of the demon witch's eyes, but she refused to be knocked out or worse by this woman. She grabbed Sara's arms and was ready to shove her off... and that's when the skin on her hand made contact with Sara's scar.

For as long as she could remember, Paige had the power to see a person's past by touching their scars, as they were 'openings' between the past and present for her; and tonight that power was going to put itself to work. Her surroundings disappeared in a bright flash, followed by blinding darkness. It was like she was sucked into a deep void, where it was impossible to escape from and sound and vision appeared to be non-existent. That was, until another sudden bright flash appeared, revealing new surroundings. Looking around, Paige found herself in a kitchen. The refrigerator produced a monotone buzzing noise, dirty plates and pans were drifting in the soapy water in the sink. Paige knew that she herself wasn't there... and yet she was there, in some kind of way. That's because she was looking through Sara's eyes. She could see her past like a spectator could see a movie. As if her soul was trapped in her body, she could see everything what was going on around her, she could even feel the emotions that were going through her. And on that moment, she felt a strong feeling of fear, so strong that she couldn't move her legs for an inch. The source of that fear, a man in his late thirties, was sitting at the table and holding a piece of paper in his hands. His sight was glued on the paper and when he looked up, it looked like his eyes were spewing fire and ice at the same time, he looked that enraged. The fear was now so strong that breathing was impossible.

'A B-?' the man growled. 'A fucking B-, Sara? Are you kidding me? Did you even study for that test? What the hell did you do in your bedroom all those goddamn hours?!'

Sara... so that was her name. God, this must be her childhood... Paige felt that Sara was trying to find words to defend herself, but it was like her throat was filled with sand. Then the man (who she assumed was her father) stood up, grabbed a glass and smashed it on the edge of the table leaf. 'You dumb bitch!' he bellowed, took three steps and jammed the shards into her right upper arm. A mind-numbing pain spread through her entire arm like a wildfire and Paige screamed with a voice that wasn't hers; it was Sara's. Blood trickled in thick streams down her arm and dripped onto the tile floor. Oh God, so much blood, it was too much blood, Jesus Christ...

A sudden bright flash ended the flashback and Paige was promptly taken to the next memory. In this one, she saw that Sara was now scrubbing a bathtub. The entire bathroom smelled of lime. Her heart was beating in her throat and she could practically feel someone's gaze burning into her back. Tears were burning in the corners of her eyes. Paige couldn't help but wondering who was in the bathroom with her at the moment.

'I can still a spot over there!' the voice of a woman hissed. Her mother... Paige was convinced that this was Sara's mother who was speaking. A hand suddenly grabbed her by the back of her neck; her mother's fingernails were digging so deep into the skin that droplets of blood appeared. Her head was pressed against the cold floor and she was forced to look at a tiny spot of dirt on one of the white tiles.

'You see that?!' Sara's mother screamed. 'You call that cleaning?! You worthless little shit stain! You can't do anything right, you're that stupid!'

Another bright flash ended this hellish memory and once again, Paige was taken to the last one... and this one had to be the most stomach-churning of them all.

Sara was standing in the middle of a bedroom, most likely hers since she could see a poster of a rock star in the corner of her eye. Her father was standing in front of her, tall and seemingly more intimidating than ever. Fear was brewing inside Sara's body, along with a very powerful hint of shame.

'Come on, take off your nightgown...' her father whispered. 'I want to see how much you have grown...'

Paige saw through Sara's eyes as she moved her fingers to the buttons that kept the collar of her grey nightgown together, but her fingers were trembling so much that she was unable to unbutton the first button... much to her father's dismay. 'Hurry the hell up!' he growled and smacked her in the face with the back of his hand, causing her left cheek to feel like it was on fire. The impact was strong enough to turn her around, now standing in front of a large mirror with a white frame. Paige was greeted with the reflection of a teen girl with a pale face and frightened, teary eyes.

And that's when the demon witch saw something that Sara couldn't have possibly seen herself. There was a big, bright, blue aura lingering in her chest... the color of bitterness, she knew that. But there was this other aura inside her as well. It was light green and it grew larger and larger by the second, until it fully eclipsed the blue aura. And it eventually grew so big that it looked like it absorbed all of her surroundings, creating a void with only the color green... it was the only thing she could see.

And then she was pulled out the void, the color disappeared with a flash, throwing her back into reality. Paige was back inside her ravaged shop, lying on the floor with a pulsing headache, tingling forearms and goose bumps all over her body.

Seeing the look on the demon witch's face made Sara abruptly stop bashing her head against the floor, for she had never seen someone looking at her with so much pity on her face. Nobody had ever looked at her like that, not even the cowardly residents of her hometown. So much pity... Paige's teary eyes seemed to pierce through her soul and touch a chord, almost making her heart cringe. A tear escaped from the corner of Paige's left eye and trickled down her temple.

'I'm so sorry...' Paige whispered. 'I'm so sorry this happened to you. God, I didn't know... All that abuse... I have never seen someone in more pain than you, Sara...'

Completely flabbergasted and confused at the same time, Sara let go of her shoulders and scooted away from her. 'Wha... what? H-How do you know what... How do you know my name?!'

'It's because of your scar.' Paige replied, wiping the tear stain off her face and sitting up. 'I know this might sound crazy to you, but thanks to your scar I could look into your past. I have heard your name during those flashbacks. My God... you must have suffered so much...'

An aura she knew well suddenly caught her attention. Glancing at Sara's wrist, Paige saw that the aura was coming from the small tattoo on her wrist; she knew more than enough.

'You're under Baron Corbin's influence, aren't you?' she asked.

The confusion became bigger and bigger to Sara. 'What? You know Baron as well?'

'Yeah, he's a demon. Just like me.' Just this answer alone confirmed everything for Paige. So that bastard was also capable of using a broken soul. That heartless bastard... this was so low, even for his standards. 'Oh yeah, I know him and I know him pretty damn well. And I will tell you this, Sara. Baron is dangerous. He has killed many people and demons alike, he is possibly one of the most ruthless demons I have ever seen! You can't trust him! He's just using you, you have to snap out-'

'No! That's not true!' Sara shouted angrily, jumping up. ' You don't know him at all! You have no idea what he has done for me! Baron has rescued me from getting raped! He was there for me when no one else was! He took care of me! He gave me this tattoo so I could become stronger! He is the only and first person who has ever cared about me! I'm no longer a victim because of him! He really does care about me! He... He loves me!'

And just after those last words rolled over her tongue, a sudden realization went through Sara with the speed of a lightning bolt. She loved Baron... and she loved him with all her heart.

'For God's sake, listen to me Sara!' Paige replied, getting up as well. 'Baron doesn't love anyone! He never did! The only person he cares about is himself! I know it, I have seen it!'

'You're lying! Those are all lies!' Letting out an enraged scream, Sara clenched her fist and was about to strike the demon witch in the face... but Paige knew what was coming. In the blink of an eye, long arms that were entirely made out of dark blue energy sprouted out of the floor and grabbed Sara by her limbs. She struggled to break free from the strong grip, but Paige's powers proved to be much stronger.

'Sara, you have to listen to me!' Paige said. 'You have to wake up! You don't have to do this! It doesn't have to end up like this! I understand that you don't want to be a victim anymore and I can help you with that! I have seen something inside you that can prevent you of becoming like him. I have seen the aura of kindness inside you, Sara! And that kindness was way stronger than your bitterness! You are a good person! You don't have to be like Baron! You're a much kinder person than him!'

Sara stopped struggling and stared at Paige with big eyes, filled with disbelief. Another chord inside her was struck, this time with more force. This was literally the first time that someone had called her that...

'Is... Is that true?' she asked, hardly believing it herself. 'You really think I'm a good person?'

'Yes, really! Please Sara, let me help-'

She hadn't heard the footsteps approaching her while she was talking. It took one punch to her right temple to make the world in front of Paige's eyes go dark. The demon witch dropped to the ground like a ragdoll, not even feeling the thud. The arms immediately disappeared into thin air, letting go of Sara. Looking up, she saw Baron standing next to Paige's unconscious body, staring down at her with a contemptuous look in his eyes. Then he shifted his attention to Sara.

'Damn it, Sara!' he snarled. 'This shouldn't have taken this long! You could've done this much faster!'

But before Sara could mutter an apology, he shook his head. 'But look... It doesn't matter anymore, don't worry about it. We've got what we needed. Now let's see if she's got a cell phone...'

Oh yes... now that they knew that this pale bitch right here was associated with that half-demon, Baron was absolutely convinced that this was definitely going to draw Finn Bálor to them.

* * *

Not even two miles away from The Pentagram, Finn could feel his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. For a moment he thought that it was Dolph, who was foolish enough to go after Baron despite his warning and was now calling for back-up. But when Finn checked the screen of the cell phone, he saw Paige's number. That's the demon hunter remembered that he hadn't called her back yet, like he had promised. Damn it, he immediately felt like a dumbass for forgetting that. Ignoring a cold breeze that rolled through the street and brushed against his body, he pressed a button and held the cell phone against his ear.

'Hey Paige, uh, I'm sorry for not callin' ya back earlier.' he said. 'Dolph and his guys-'

'Finn...' the demon witch moaned with a weak voice on the other side of the line. 'Finn... help... me...'

The demon hunter's stomach plummeted to his feet, taking the blood in his face along with it. 'Paige?' he exclaimed. 'Paige? What goin' on?! What happened to ya?! Paige!'

'Alright, that's enough.' an unfamiliar voice said on the background before rustling could be heard. While his heart was beating like a jackhammer in Finn's head, he wondered who the hell that voice belonged to.

Wait... was it...?

'So that's how the infamous Bastard Demon sounds like...' the unfamiliar voice said, now much clearer. 'Ha, I had no idea that you actually speak with an Irish accent.'

'Baron... it's you, isn't it?' Finn could barely hear himself speaking over the ear-deafening sound of his beating heart.

'You've got that right, you fucking freak.' Baron replied. 'As you can hear, I've got your friend right here. But don't worry, I haven't really harmed her... yet. But I will harm her if you don't listen to me. I want you to go to the park and I want you to come alone. If I find out that there's someone with you, this bitch here is going to suffer for it. I will give you fifteen minutes at most to come to the park. And I will promise you this, Finn Bálor... if you arrive to late, I will kill her in the slowest and most agonizing way possible. Her blood will be on your hands. I would already start running if I were you.'

A click and three beeps ended the phone call.


	28. Demonic Showdown

**Chapter 28**

 **Demonic Showdown**

Blinded and deafened by his own burning rage, Finn ran as fast as he could through the streets of Levesque City, having no eye for the people who just happened to be walking on the same sidewalk and simply shoving them aside with his shoulder, ignoring their indignant exclamations and insults. His lungs felt like a wildfire was raging inside them, his throat had become raw and painful due to his constant ragged breathing, his heart had decided to reside in his head and beat as loud as fast as it could possibly do and the rage caused him to see a red mist in front of his eyes that was nearly impossible to see through. The demon hunter's mouth was as dry as a desert, but he didn't think about drinking a cold glass of water to ease the drought for one second.

No... the only thing that was on his mind right now was to reach the city's park in time and make Baron pay for making this personal.

Finn swore to God and everything else that was holy that he was going to tear that filthy son of a bitch to pieces if he would dare to lay a finger on Paige. There was only one way he could've found her and find out that she was associated with him, and that was by forcefully entering The Pentagram and force her to give him answers. But the demon hunter knew that Paige would never confess to another demon that she was siding with a demon hunter, not even when she was threatened with violence. No, she would much rather fight to the death than give up that answer. Then what the hell did happen back there in that store? A wave of guilt crashed through Finn's body; goddamn it, he wasn't there in time to protect her! But there was no time for feeling guilty now, he would allow himself to feel like that after shoving Baron's teeth down his throat and make him choke on them.

His nearly ungodly rage may have caused his entire body to be engulfed in a wrathful flame... but it also urged something dark and absolutely vicious to try and convince the demon hunter to finally release him. The demon's furious roars grew louder and louder until they overlapped the sound of Finn's beating heart, he couldn't hear anything else but those bloodthirsty roars. Finn knew that his demonic side wanted to be released, it was up to him whether he was ready to undo him from the chains that had held him down for so long. For a second the demon hunter was actually ready to unleash his inner demon, but despite the burning rage, he was able to retain his common sense and decided not to create a full-blown mass hysteria by transforming in public. As soon as he would reach the park it would be safe to let the inner demon out... and Baron would see that he had made the biggest mistake of his life by kidnapping a close friend of the notorious Bastard Demon.

Through the thickness of the red mist, Finn could see that the city park was on the other side of the street. He had no idea for how long he had been running, but the fear that he was too late and that Paige was now lying on the grass as a pile of bloody meat was indescribable. Not bothering to check if it was safe to cross, Finn crossed the street with his sight glued to the park, not even looking up from the sound of the screeching tires of the car who was forced to stop immediately for him. The driver stuck his head out of his window and hurled a vulgar insult at him, but that clearly fell on deaf ears.

Setting foot in the dark park of Levesque City on a moonless night was like setting foot in something straight out of a nightmare. Not a single soul could be seen wandering the empty pathways or the grass. These surroundings looked so lush and peaceful during daytime, but as soon as night would fall, the lights of the lampposts that were supposed to give the park a somewhat romantic atmosphere did nothing else but make the park look as eerie and haunted as possible. Unless you were a murderer, robber or rapist looking for a potential victim, nobody with the right mind would ever think of visiting this park at night. And somewhere in the darkness, Baron was waiting for Finn, holding Paige as his prisoner at the deepest, darkest point in the city park. While the demon inside him was still roaring with all his might, Finn didn't stop looking around for a second, hoping to catch a glimpse of Baron or Paige. But at the same time, he also expected an incoming attack; the darkness was the perfect camouflage for a demon to launch an attack, after all.

Then the demon hunter saw them. Two humanoid silhouettes, barely revealed by a nearby lamppost, standing on a large field near the lake. It had to be them, it just fucking had to them! Finn ran towards the silhouettes, his rage burning harder than his throat and lungs. When he was just one and half meters away from them, he stopped running. The sight did nothing more but fuel his anger more.

Yes. It was indeed Baron Corbin. A tall ink demon clad in a leather, sleeveless, black biker jacket, black leather pants, black combat boots, staring at Finn with a small smirk on his face and his arms folded. And it looked like he hadn't been operating alone after all. Paige was lying on the grass, her hands tied behind her back with frozen ink, making it impossible for her to break free. While she was drifting in and out of consciousness, she was guarded by his accomplice Sara, who was standing behind her like a loyal guard dog.

'So you must be Finn Bálor...' Baron said. 'The infamous Bastard Demon they won't shut up about in the Demon Realm... It has taken me a long time, but it looks like my hard work has paid off. I have found you at last. I should thank your friend over here, if she hadn't blurted out your name in that shop it would've been harder to find you. I'm surprised you arrived in time... I was just about to rip her guts out.'

'She has nothing to do with this!' the demon hunter growled. 'What do you want, Baron?!'

'Isn't it obvious, you freak?' the ink demon calmly replied. 'You think I have come all this way to the Mortal Realm to do what, give fucking presents to sad little orphans? No. I came here for you, Finn Bálor. You see, there are stories going around the Demon Realm about this half-demon, a demon hunter, who is not only a traitor to his demonic heritage, but also one powerful son of a bitch. And I want that power.'

'Go to Hell, ya fuckin' bastard! I'll tear out ya bloody throat before ya can have the smallest taste of my powers.'

Baron briefly chuckled. 'Touchy, aren't we? Doesn't matter. If you think you can take me on, you're painfully mistaken, freak show. I have consumed dozens of life forces and turned gallons of blood into ink so that I can take you on. I have killed an entire trailer park. I have slaughtered a whole group in one house. I have killed so many humans that I've lost count. Well, not that I cared about the count anyway, none of them meant anything to me. The point is... I have become just as strong as you. All of this could be over in the blink of an eye.'

'Baron.' The demon hunter could feel it, he could clearly feel it traveling up his throat; the darkness that had been inside him from the moment he was born. The chains around the demon were loosening up and he slowly crawling out of through his throat and was already affecting his voice, which had turned deeper and was leaning more into the direction of turning inhuman. 'I'm only goin' to warn ya once. Come to yer senses. This doesn't have to end in violence. Be wise and stop this now. Let go of Paige and leave. Ya can go back to the Demon Realm for all I care. But I'm tellin' ya now... this yer last chance to stop.'

One last chance to leave before all hell was going to break loose in the park of Levesque City; Finn meant every word of this. The demon inside him was almost free from his chains, more ravenous than ever and driven by Finn's rage, ready to tear this son of a bitch into bloody pieces. Not one bone would be left intact, all of his organs would be torn to shreds, his skin would rip like old paper underneath his claws, no drop of blood would be left in his mangled body, his mouth was going to be forever frozen in a silent death scream once he was done with him; all of these weren't going to happen if the ink demon would swallow his pride and leave with his human accomplice. Nobody had to get hurt tonight... but Finn was more than ready to maul Baron.

To unleash his inner demon.

But the ink demon's desire for dominance and respect in his home realm overlapped his common sense. He slowly shook his head. 'You're such a fucking coward... I won't leave until I get what I want. It's time for me to claim my well-deserved throne in the Demon Realm. No... I'd much rather stay and fight 'til death.'

Fair enough.

Holding onto his last bit of self-control at the last second, Finn drew his pistol and aimed at Baron. But before he could pull the trigger to fire the first bullet, the ink demon's body suddenly dissolved into ink, turning into a black puddle with streaks of red and blue. As if it had a mind of its own, the puddle slithered towards the demon hunter like a poisonous viper. Shooting on a ink demon in its ink form would be useless, Finn knew that; he had to fire as soon as he would regain his normal form. It all happened in almost the blink of an eye. As soon as it was close enough to him, the puddle of ink rose up and immediately transformed into a humanoid shape; Baron had transformed back into his original form. Finn was once more about to fire at him, but as soon as the last drop of ink had been turned, the ink demon grabbed the demon hunter's wrist and squeezed with all his strength, pointing the pistol away from him. An ear-deafening bang shredded through the silence of the park as a stray bullet was fired into the air, definitely loud enough to wake up anyone who happened to live around the park. Despite the painful ringing in his ear, Baron wasn't fazed by it for one bit. Wasting no time, he rammed his forehead against Finn's nose with full force. Stars were formed in front of his eyes as a hellish pain traveled through his entire face. Blood poured down his lips and chin like a small, gory waterfall. But the ink demon wasn't done yet. While he continued to put more agonizing pressure on Finn's wrist with his clenched fist, his other fist was launched just below his sternum, almost powerful enough to tear his diaphragm in two. Finn let out a strangled bellow of pain, suddenly realizing that he might not survive this if he would let out his inner demon. Baron suddenly pulled down his wrist, forcing the demon hunter to bend over; his knee was the next instrument of pain, used to ram against his forehead.

'For fuck's sake Finn whatever happens don't fuckin' faint he'll kill me if I faint don't faint goddamn it!' was the nearly incomprehensible thought that went through his aching head with the speed of a lightning bolt. Thick, black spots occupied most of his sight, the world around him was shaking due to the ungodly pain, but he refused to close his eyes. His wrist was still trapped in Baron's grip, it felt like his bones were going to snap at any moment. He was forced to let go of the pistol and unwillingly dropped it. Baron then suddenly let go of his wrist and his arm dropped like it contained no bones or muscles whatsoever. The demon hunter dropped to his knees and to add insult to injury, Baron allowed his boot to meet the side of Finn's head, kicking him over like a ragdoll.

The bang caused by the stray bullet was enough to make Paige fully snap out of her state. While she struggled to break free from the frozen ink that encased her wrists, the demon witch watched as Baron stood next to Finn and looked down at him with a small but triumphant smirk on his face. God no, he was going to kill him, oh fuck, no! Paige's hand illuminated with a dark blue glow when she attempted once more to break free with the use of her powers, but it was no use; she was too weakened by the blow to her head earlier. She glanced up and saw Sara staring at the violent sight. The look in her eyes was fiery, clearly admiring the ink demon who 'loved' her oh so much and glad that he had gained the upper hand. Goddamn it, Paige had no idea that Baron was capable of brainwashing this traumatized woman this much. So blinded, so unbelievably blinded by one-sided love...

Then, when Baron gazed down upon the beaten and furious demon hunter, he saw something that made him grin from ear to ear on the inside; he saw a very familiar blue aura lingering in his chest.

Ha... who knew...

'Let's see what you're so bitter about, freak.'

And before Finn could response, the ink demon had already gotten on top of him and rammed his hand into his chest with all the strength he had. His hand acted like a battering ram, smashing through the center of his ribcage and shattering the bones. The demon hunter widened his eyes and bellowed in pain as he felt Baron's fist clenching around his heart, adding much more pain to the already hellish pain he had caused. Asides from the sounds of his breaking bones, tearing muscles and splashing blood, he heard Paige screaming his name in horror at the top of her lungs. While Baron held a firm grip on his beating heart, the source of his bitterness was instantly revealed to him like an open book and visions of the demon hunter's past displayed themselves in front of his eyes with a flash. Oh yes, this was perfect, this was absolutely fucking perfect... who ever knew that the Bastard Demon was such a pathetic shit in the past. When the visions disappeared, he looked down at Finn, who was still struggling to pull the ink demon's forearm out of his chest with his face crunched into a mask of pain. Blood was trickling down the corners of his mouth in thick streams.

'Your bitterness is so clear to me, Finn Bálor!' Baron exclaimed, ready to mercilessly torment his opponent. 'I have seen it all! And oh man, you've got a whole fucking lot on your heart, haven't you?! You're the result of rape, your cunt of a mother wanted you dead, those people at the orphanage treated you like the goddamn freak you are, rightfully so, and you have broken the heart of the only woman who was willing to be your friend! Ha! No wonder you fucking hate yourself! You are bitter about who you are! And you should hate yourself! You are nothing more but a freak of nature! A dirty fucking mongrel who deserves to die alone in the gutter! You never deserved the kindness of that ginger bitch! You are and always will be a filthy, pathetic, fucking freak!'

A loud snap could be heard inside Finn's head and he knew exactly what it was; it was the last chain that held his demonic side down.

It was time for the demon to come out at last.

As soon as Baron saw the thick black cracks appearing all over the demon hunter's mutilated chest, he pulled out his hand, got up and took a few steps back. Finally, this was it... he had the sinister honor of watching the Bastard Demon releasing the darkness inside him. The gaping, bloody hole that exposed his beating heart, slowly closed, healing the broken ribs and torn muscles along with it. An inhumanly low growl escaped past Finn's lips when he sat up and got back up his feet, signaling the start of an eerie transformation. The black cracks grew larger and thicker, coloring his skin as black as the night itself. Every vein in his body turned blood red and swelled, becoming visible and pulsed with each heart beat. Long strings that resembled dreadlocks, but were in fact entirely composed of black and red flesh, grew out of his head. Finn's mouth grew unnaturally large, growing nearly four times larger and was filled with razor sharp teeth, covered in blood and saliva. His fingernails and toenails became just as long and sharp as his teeth. The irises and pupils in his eyes disappeared behind a white mist. The clothes on his bodies, including his shoes, went up in shreds in the blink of an eye. Now that the transformation was complete, Finn unleashed a bloodcurdling, ear-deafening roar that no human being could possibly produce.

The demon inside him had come out.

Both Paige and Sara watched with pure awe, but it looked like Baron wasn't fazed by Finn's new, grotesque appearance at all. Instead, he chuckled mockingly. 'Do you really think you can take me on even if you unleash all your powers?' he asked. 'Please... you still won't stand a chance. But that doesn't matter. Let's have a bit of fun for as long as this will last. So...' The ink demon spread his arms, boldly provoking him. 'Show me all you've got!'

The demonic Finn let out another loud roar before he charged at the ink demon like an enraged bull. Ha, he had expected that freak would make a reckless move like that; rage could turn any abomination into a mindless fighting machine. His tattoos glowed brightly when he summoned a thick wall entirely made of frozen ink, rising up from the earth. But a shield wasn't going to stop the furious half-demon. Finn smashed through the wall with his fist like it was made out of carton, shattering it and sending sharp pieces of frozen ink everywhere. It was too late for Baron to make another move to defend himself; sharp fingernails dug into his skin as Finn roughly grabbed him. As soon as he got him in his grip, he clamped down on the area between his neck and shoulder. The taste of blood in Finn's mouth was overwhelming, the unmistaken smell was just nearly intoxicating, it fueled the desire of mauling the ink demon into a useless pile of bloody meat. Baron ignored Sara's panicked scream and quickly drew his knife, stabbing his opponent in the shoulder and twisting the blade in the flesh to cause more damage. This escape attempt proved to be successful; Finn pulled out his teeth and let go of him, letting out a pained, inhuman wail as he stumbled back. Baron could feel warm blood dripping down his arm, coloring most of his arm red. Two rows of bloody, deep holes decorated the patch of skin between his neck and shoulder, but the ink demon ignored the burning pain and the stench of his own blood. No, he wasn't going to let his own pain put him in jeopardy in this fight.

Then he could clearly see it; the spot where he had stabbed Finn was quickly closing up and left no trace. 'Ha... so you can regenerate...' Baron panted with a hoarse voice. He guessed he had to make it harder for him to do so... and he just knew how. Just before Finn was going to charge at him once again, a huge wave of ink appeared behind him and crashed into him. The ink immediately froze when it came in contact with the half-demon's skin, trapping him in the wave. His arms and legs were encased within the ink, he was only able to move his head. This was Baron's chance. Let's see if this abomination could still regenerate with a slit throat. With his knife in his hand, the ink demon ran towards him, ready to cut his throat open and catch his blood. But Finn wasn't planning on letting him get to him that easily. He snarled when his 'dreadlocks' suddenly grew longer and longer into incredible lengths, now resembling grotesque tentacles. And just before the ink demon could reach him, the strings of colored flesh wrapped around his ankles, causing him to fall on his back. The 'dreadlocks' may have looked like they didn't contain any strength, but that was immediately proven wrong when they lifted Baron into the air by his ankles. The ink demon grunted and attempted to cut himself free, but to no avail. Just as he was about to try to cut one of the 'dreadlocks' again, he was smashed against the ground with full force, making the world around him look like it was shaking. This brief moment of powerlessness caused him to lose control of the frozen wave, which liquefied and set Finn free. The half-demon retracted his 'dreadlocks', dragging Baron towards him in the process. As soon as he would be in his reach, he would murder him, the ink demon knew that. While he was overwhelmed by a nearly unbearable headache and the world was still trembling around him, he clenched the handle of his knife so tightly that his knuckled turned white. He managed to sit up, grab the tentacles and with one swift cut, he was free at last. Blood squirted out of the 'dreadlocks' as Finn roared in pain. Baron immediately took his chance, got up on his feet and head-butted his opponent with so much strength that he himself almost lost consciousness. Then he grabbed Finn's throat and pushed him to the ground. It was clear that the impact had dazed the half-demon, because he barely attempted to shove him off of him.

'Enough of this bullshit!' Baron snarled as he pinned his opponent down, barely feeling the blood trickling down his forehead. It was time that he was finally going to get what he always wanted. The ink demon looked behind him. 'Sara! Get over here and help me!' he shouted.

Paige saw the twinkle of excitement in the left corner of Sara's left eye. 'Sara...' the demon witch said. 'Please... don't do this...'

'You will see that you are wrong. You will see that he really does care about me!' Sara quickly replied before she sprinted off.

'Here, hold him down!' Baron said as soon as she reached him. Sara did exactly as she was told to do, still deluded by his lies and blinded by her love for him. She pinned down the dazed half-demon with all the strength she had, which was duplicated by her tattoo. He was now going to get what he deserved, this is what he would get for protecting people like her parents! She and Baron had done it, they had taken him down together, like she had pictured it. A new life in the mysterious Demon Realm was waiting for her, she wanted nothing more than go there with the ink demon she loved so much... Baron slashed across Finn's chest, making sure the cut was deep and bloody. The pain made the half-demon snap out of his daze, roaring in pain as he tried to get up, but Sara miraculously managed to hold him down. The young woman watched as the blood that spilled out of his wound seemed to get a life of its own, rising into the air as if gravity had ceased to exist in the park. The fresh blood was drawn towards Baron and he absorbed it all; his tattoos glowed vividly as every drop of blood disappeared into the ink.

Finally... The ink demon had finally got what he wanted all along. Baron stood up and took a few steps back as euphoria washed over him like a tidal wave. Yes, he was feeling it, it was coming. Fresh was already pulsing through his veins, it nearly made his head feel light, so delightfully light. The corners of his mouth twitched into a smile while Baron loudly breathed in and out through his nose, only focusing on the new energy inside him.

'Baron... is everything alright?' Sara suddenly asked with a bit of a worried voice. She reached out her hand to touch his arm... and a choreography of disbelief and treachery unfolded. Baron looked up and grabbed her wrist, gripping it so tight that it was impossible for Sara to pull her hand away. And just as Sara wanted to ask him what the hell he was doing, it felt like the skin on her wrist was on fire. An immense burning pain followed; Sara let out a scream and tried to free herself by clawing at Baron's wrist, but to no avail. He was burning her tattoo away, oh God! Confusion and disbelief was the only thing she could feel. Why?! What the hell was happening?! This couldn't be real! But it was real; that was confirmed when Baron stared at her with a sinister smirk on his face.

'Your role in this game is over.' he said. 'Get out of my way!'

And as if she weighed nothing, Baron lifted Sara in the air by her burned wrist and swung her into the dark lake; the young woman's shriek was abruptly cut off with a loud splash when she was plunged into the water.

'Bastard!' Paige shouted at the ink demon, but her insult fell on deaf ears. Baron let out a soft hum when he felt the energy still coursing through every vein in his body, oh yes, this was so good, this is what he deserved... But his euphoria was promptly thrown out of the window when a hellish pain crashed through him. Baron hunched over, opened his mouth and threw up a thick wave of blood. He widened his eyes in a mix of shock and a hint of fear. Was his body not capable of enduring these new powers?! But that impossible! He had made sure everything was added up! The balance between his own strength and the strength in his tattoos was stable! Had he... been a fool?! Finn must've been stronger than he thought he was! An unforgivable mistake... Something dark was climbing towards his brain, he wanted to stop it, but he was absolutely powerless. Baron let out a scream as his mind was washed over by that darkness, losing himself in it. More pain followed, now traveling through his bones. A vertical row of sharp, curved spikes grew out of his spine, entirely made out of bone, ripping through his flesh and the material of his jacket. Thick, long, razor sharp claws burst through his knuckles, covered in trickles of blood. His veins thickened and colored blue. More curved, sharp spikes made out of bone grew out of his arms and shins. Like a parasite, his new powers were consuming him from the inside, but Baron didn't realize that; his sanity was consumed by the darkness as well. He turned around and faced Finn, who was still lying on the ground and had watched the transformation. While he spat out some more blood, Baron's irises and pupils disappeared, turning his face into a mask of insanity when he snarled like a wild beast, showing off his bloody teeth. His tattoos glowed brighter than ever, almost enough to blind Finn.

Paige watched helplessly as the half-demon and the corrupted ink demon clashed into each other and continued their fight, emitting inhuman growls and roars as they tried to injure each other as much as possible. Oh God, Baron was no stronger than ever... if she failed to escape, Finn might die! The demon witch grunted when she jerked with her hands in a futile attempt to break free, but she refused to stop. 'Break, goddamn it, just break!' she muttered. Suddenly, she heard something emerge from the lake behind her, followed by rapid footsteps. An impact struck the frozen ink that incased her wrists. Looking up, Paige saw that someone had made a change of heart; it was Sara. With wet locks of hair sticking against her face and her clothes soaking wet, the young woman struck the frozen ink with a large rock (most likely picked up from the bottom of the lake, that had to be it) over and over again with whatever strength she had left. And then, after she hit it fifteen times, it shattered into pieces, freeing Paige at last. One glance at the wrist of Sara revealed that the spot on her skin where her tattoo had once been was nothing more but a dark red patch of burned flesh.

'I'm... sorry...' Sara whispered with a hoarse voice.

'You can apologize later.' Paige curtly replied before running off.

And it looked like she was freed just in time; Baron had grabbed Finn by the throat and pointed the claws of his other hand right at his eyes, ready to gouge them out as soon as the grip his opponent had around his forearm would weaken enough. Just when the grip was about to slip, three pairs of elongated arms made of dark blue energy grabbed the corrupted ink demon and pulled him away from Finn, causing him to lose his balance in the process.

'Hey there, you fucking twat...' Paige hissed when the arms she had summoned dragged Baron closer and closer to her. Her eyes glowed almost just as bright as his tattoos. 'Have you forgotten about me?!'

The demon witch then quickly muttered a spell and the arms of energy suddenly turned into bright blue flames, engulfing Baron's body in a scorching hot fire. This had to be it, Paige thought while she clenched her fists. If this fire wouldn't weaken him, then she had no idea what else would. But... why wasn't he screaming? Why didn't she smell burning flesh? The demon witch wanted to cling onto that hope of at least damaging him, she really did, but that hope was abandoned when the blue flames disappeared... revealing that Baron had curled himself into a spiky ball made of bone, preventing him from sustaining any burns this entire time. And before Paige could launch another spell, the 'ball' charged at her with incredible speed and knocked her off her feet. As soon as she touched the ground, Baron emerged from his shield and pinned Paige down.

'Oh no...' Baron growled; droplets of saliva and blood dripped down on the demon witch's face. 'I haven't forgotten about you at all, bitch!'

Just before Baron was about to pierce through her face with his claws, a kick from above was delivered to his head, followed by the rustling of feathered wings; the impact of the kick was enough to knock the ink demon away from Paige. The demon witch supported herself on her elbows and looked up. What she saw caused her to drop her jaw in astonishment. An angel with long black hair, piercing blue eyes, tattooed arms and tanned skin stared back at her, kneeling down and reaching out his hand.

'Are you alright?' Roman Reigns asked. 'Are you a friend of Finn?'

'Y-Yeah, I am...' the demon witch replied. When she grabbed his hand, he pulled her back up on her feet. 'How do you know? And who are you?'

'The name is Roman.' the angel said. 'I suppose Finn might've told you about a previous encounter we had in the past, but we have buried the hatchet. He has done something for me that I can't thank him enough for. My visions have brought me here, I sensed that he was in great danger. I came as fast as I could. Where is he?'

Now it was Roman's turn to be astonished when Paige pointed at the half-demon as an answer. It was him. The monster he had seen in his previous visions. The half-demon who was now his ally, in all of his horrific glory. Finn was just standing two meters away from him and for a moment the angel was afraid that he might no longer recognize him and attack him, but that didn't happen.

'Finn... is that really you?' Roman asked.

The half-demon softly growled and nodded his head, seemingly still understanding human speech and remembering the angel despite his current state.

'I see.' Roman then shifted his attention to Baron, who was lying on the grass and dazed from the kick. 'So this must be Baron then. Finn had told me about this ink demon before.'

'Yeah. I could tell you all about him, but there's no time.' Paige replied. 'We have to take him down, now!'

Roman heard footsteps on his left and saw that Finn joined them. The three supernatural beings, the half-demon, the demon and the angel, stared down at the ink demon, who had recovered from his daze and stared right back at them with his face contorted into an animal-like snarl.

'Three against one...' Baron growled, allowing a small wave of blood to escape out of his mouth; he still wasn't realizing that his powers were eating him alive from the inside. 'I had expected a lot of you, Finn... I guess I should've expected you to be a fucking coward as well! But that doesn't matter to me, though! I'm stronger than all of you! I can't wait to tear you three apart!'

Two thick gauntlets made of blue energy shaped around Roman's forearms in the blink of an eye. 'Not if we defeat you first.'

Finn's ear-deafening roar signaled the continuation of the demonic showdown with a frightened and heartbroken Sara as the only spectator. Roman immediately proved himself to be a powerful ally by slamming his gauntlets on the ground with incredible force, sending heavy shockwaves through the earth towards the ink demon. Feeling the tremors underneath him, Baron jumped away just in time before a small explosion could blow his legs clean off. Large shards of frozen ink appeared from thin air and were fired at the three in retaliation. Finn opened his hands and aimed his palms at the shards, revealing two extra tiny mouths filled with sharp teeth. The mouths opened and released a thick cloud of black energy, absorbing the shards before they could impale them all. Paige made her move by summoning the magical arms once again, which grabbed Baron from behind by his limbs. The demon witch shouted a spell and send a huge ball of blue fire at the ink demon, but before the flames could touch him, his body dissolved into ink, thus escaping from the arms that restrained him. The pool of ink slithered towards Paige like an infuriated snake with rapid speed; just before Paige had the chance to defend herself, sharp claws tore her chest open as Baron was in the middle of his quick transformation. But the demon witch wasn't planning on stumbling back in pain. She grabbed the ink demon by his arm, pulled him towards her and launched an energy-fueled punch right in his face. Roman took over at that point. The angel grabbed the corrupted ink demon by the throat and went airborne, ascending to the cold night sky. Baron attempted to escape by tearing the angel's forearm open with his claws, but to no avail. As soon as Roman let go of his throat, his gauntlet struck him in the chest with full force, sending him crashing down. A loud impact followed when the corrupted ink demon hit the ground, creating a fairly large crater in the middle of the field. He had to be immobilized now, it had to be! Roman dove down and headed to the humanoid shape in the middle of the crater with rapid speed, drawing his arm back, ready to deliver the final blow. But that plan was cut short when Baron jumped up, using a wave of ink to catapult himself to the angel and grabbed him by the wings. The world spun in front of Roman's eyes when he was flipped over with immense force and less than three seconds later, he crashed against the ground. But Baron wasn't done yet; still holding onto the angel's wings, he spun him around and launched him to a nearby tree. It was nearly broken in two when Roman's body hit the bark with an astounding impact; letting out a soft groan, he fell to the ground like a ragdoll.

However, it looked like the angel's attack hadn't been in vain after all. The bony spikes that had protruded from Baron's limbs and his claws were now nothing more but useless stumps.

He heard Paige muttering another spell. Enough of this. Just as Paige's summoned arms were about to grab him, the corrupted ink demon dodged them and let a wave of ink engulf the demon witch from behind her, immediately freezing upon coming in contact with her skin, trapping her in black ice. She could struggle as much as she wanted, there was no way she could escape. Baron no longer had the patience for fighting Finn's allies; he would kill them as soon as he was done with him.

'Look at your pathetic friends now, Finn!' he taunted with a smirk on his face. 'Do you still think you can take me on? I will gladly give them the chance to witness your dea-'

But just as he turned around to look at his opponent, he was greeted with a hand to his throat that immediately squeezed it shut. Sharp fingernails dug into his skin, drawing blood. Finn lifted Baron in the air by his throat and launched a fist into his stomach with so much force that blood escaped from the corrupted ink demon's mouth. Then he tossed him to the ground, leaving him to helplessly cough and gasp for air with ragged breaths. The light Baron's tattoos were flickering, looking like they were going to fade at any moment.

It was time to end this madness once and for all. Finn knew that... and he was more than glad to finish this battle.

The half-demon grabbed a fistful of Baron's hair, forcing him to get back up on his feet. His legs contained barely any strength as he was standing up. Finn opened his hands, once more revealing the two extra mouths on the palms. The jaws filled with sharp teeth parted, allowing a huge black cloud of energy to escape and completely cover Baron's torso and right arm. As soon as the energy covered him, it felt like hundreds of tiny hooks dug their way in his skin, creating an unbearable pain. Baron opened his bloody mouth and screamed in agony. As he slowly started to panic, he attempted to break free, but his movement caused the 'hooks' to dig deeper underneath his skin... which was exactly what Finn wanted. When the realization that escape was impossible, Baron felt his heart sinking to his feet. He stared into the eyes of the Bastard Demon, the freak, the abomination, the mongrel that he thought he was going to defeat. He had been a fool, he had been nothing more but a goddamn fool this entire time. And as Baron looked in Finn's eyes, he could feel his limbs paralyzing with fear, oh God, he could feel it so clearly. The half-demon slightly squinted his eyes when he let out a soft growl... and that's when Baron screamed in fear at the top of his lungs.

Finn retracted the energy back into the mouths, ripping the ink demon's tattooed skin off with a sickening ripping noise. Each inch of skin on his torso and right arm was taken along with the energy, exposing nothing more but bloody muscle tissue. At first Baron didn't feel anything for a split second, but then a hellish burning pain made him scream even louder. A rain of blood touched the grass, turning everything that was green in red. The black energy that had devoured his skin went back inside Finn's hands, dropping him. Baron's half-skinned body was trembling and twitching all over as the irises and pupils reappeared in his widened eyes. The only sounds he could produce while he stared at the night sky in pure agony were strangled whimpers.

But Finn wasn't done with him yet. It was time for the mutilated ink demon to receive the finishing blow. His suffering would end as soon as his heart would be ripped out of his skinned chest. The half-demon slightly squatted down and pulled his arm, ready to deliver the bloody coup de grâce.

'No!' a distraught voice cried out.

And just before he was about to strike, Sara threw herself in front of Baron and spread her arms, protecting her former partner in crime. Sitting on her knees, she looked at Finn with tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

'No more, please, no more!' she begged. 'Don't kill him, I'm begging you! Please! For the love of God, stop it! Please, stop!'

Baron wanted to say something to Sara, he really did... but the ungodly pain and shock were way too much for him. He let out a barely audible whimper before he rolled the eyes in the back of his head and the back his skull hit the grass with a dull thud.

The tears, the voice that was on the verge of breaking, the desperation... it struck something deep inside Finn. The realization slowly sank into him. It was over. This battle was over. He had won. And when those words had sunken into his mind, a serene calmness washed over him. He lowered his arm and closed his eyes. His demonic side was slowly retreating back into his body, allowing him to take his normal form. His mouth was shrinking back into its normal size, his teeth and fingernails turned dull, the 'dreadlocks' retreated back into his head, his normal skin color appeared through the thick black cracks. Something else had come along with the calmness and that was an immense tiredness. He was tired... so damn tired. The last thing he could hear before he gave into the light feeling in his head was Paige shouting his name. He had already lost consciousness before his body could touch the grass.


	29. Awake And Alive

**Chapter 29**

 **Awake And Alive**

When was the last time he had slept this peacefully? A long time, that's for sure. Nights like these were rare if you happened to live demon hunter's life; every night of sleep could be your last one if you weren't careful enough. Even though no dreams were present in his sleep to entertain, inspire or horrify him, it was very pleasant. It was like the events at the city park had never happened, it was just this good kind of darkness and this delightful serenity. If you listened very closely, there was only one single sound you could hear in that darkness; the demon inside Finn had finally found rest and was just as sound asleep as he was, his soft snoring filling in the silence of this dreamless sleep.

Something warm was shining right on his face, yes, he could clearly feel it. It was a gentle warmth, it was just right. Finn was slowly pulled out of his sleep as the warmth egged him on to wake up. Come on now, he wanted to sleep a little longer, just five more minutes or so... But like a stern mother who wanted her child to get up and get dressed for school, the gentle warmth didn't give into his lazy wish. A faint headache traveled through the demon hunter's head as he carefully opened his eyes. Despite the fact that he had plenty of sleep this night, his eyes were slightly stinging with tiredness. The headache suddenly became stronger and Finn had to close his eyes for a second, afraid that it was going to get worse if he wouldn't do so. He groaned and rubbed his right temple. The headache lessened and he dared to open his eyes once again. Thankfully he barely felt anything now.

The demon hunter saw the source of the warmth that had pulled him out of his sleep; it was a ray of sunshine that was shining through the window of his bedroom. Finn sat up and looked around. The sunshine had the magical ability to turn the bedroom into a little kingdom of tranquility. Staring at his surroundings made Finn feel relaxed on so many levels. Small pieces of dust were illuminated by the sunlight, dancing around his Lego pirate ship on the desk. Finn let out a sigh and rested his back against the headboard of his bed and stared at the unfinished structure. If there would still be some time tonight after the shop would close, he could perhaps finish it.

The demon hunter suddenly heard the door handle softly creak and someone carefully opened the door. Paige peeked inside the bedroom and as soon as she saw that her tenant was awake, she blinked her eyes one time in surprise.

'Oh, Finn! I didn't know you were awake already! How are you feeling?'

'I'm... feelin' fine, I suppose.'

'Really, mate? Don't you... remember anything?' The demon witch shook her head. 'Well, maybe it might come back to you later, who knows. Stay in bed, I'll be right back. I've got a little surprise for you! Wait right here!'

And gone was Paige. Finn glanced at the ceiling, wondering what the hell she was talking about. What was he supposed to remember? He frowned and concentrated, trying his best to recall anything. Just then, it struck him. He tried so hard to recall what he had done before going to sleep, but... it was like his memory of last night had somehow been erased. A blank slate, nothing more. A shiver ran up his spine as he realized that there was absolutely nothing to remember. All of this was getting more terrifying by the second... Finn was snapped out of his thoughts when the door opened once more and Paige stepped inside the bedroom, holding a colorful, middle-sized box in her hands. She walked towards the confused demon hunter with a smile on her face. She tossed the box on his lap. 'Here you go. Picked it up from the toy store this morning!'

Looking down, Finn couldn't help but crack up in amusement; it was a box of Lego. A spaceship made of Lego blocks was printed on the front. 'Holy smokes, Paige! Thanks a bunch!' the demon hunter sniggered. 'Have I been such a good employee to ya lately that ye're gonna pay me with Lego from now on? Then I ought to give up on searchin' for a new place and stay here for the rest of my life!'

'Sorry to disappoint you, but no.' the demon witch replied. 'I figured you earned a little present after everything that has happened last night. Trust me... you've really earned some Lego after all that shite you've been through.'

Finn's smile disappeared from his face as he stared at his present with a pensive look in his eyes, not saying anything and still trying his best to remember something, no matter how small that memory would be, it would still be something at least. Paige sat down on the edge of his bed. 'You really don't remember anything?' she asked with a soft voice.

The demon hunter shook his head. He looked up and wanted to say something back to her, but what he saw made him quickly close his mouth. A big bruise, a dark blue patch of skin mixed with a hint of purple, could be seen on the demon witch's right temple. Good God, what the hell happened to her? Did she trip while working in the shop and hit her head against something, or... did someone punch her? But it wasn't the only injury she had. Claw marks peeked at him from behind the neckline of her black tank top, filled with dried-up blood and reddening the skin around them. They came without any warning; the memories shot through Finn's mind with the speed of a bullet. Damn, now he remembered... he remembered everything single damn thing.

Every detail was so clear, it was almost terrifying. Each punch, each drop of blood, all the pain... it was like he experienced them all over again. Yes, he recalled this all now. The phone call, the arrival at the park, Baron's ruthless violence, the hand in his chest, the taunting words, the transformation, the betrayal, Baron's descent into madness, Roman's arrival, the sound of Baron's tattooed skin ripping off of his body, just everything... the memories all came back at once with so much impact that it nearly cut off his breath.

'Christ, are you alright there, Finn?' Paige asked. 'You're as pale as a bloody sheet!'

'I... I'm fine, don't worry.' the demon hunter replied while he rubbed his left temple. 'It's all comin' back to me now, ya know? Ah, my God... Is... Is Roman okay? Didn't he crash against a tree?'

'It's okay, Roman is fine. He was all sore when he regained consciousness, but he survived.'

'Glad to hear that.' Finn sighed and stared at the ceiling. 'Joelle's way too young to go through life without a father...' He glanced at the digital clock on his nightstand and widened his eyes in surprise when he saw that it was half past twelve. He immediately sat back up. 'Damn, is it that late already?! I should be helpin' you out by now! Hold on, I'm gonna get changed!'

'No no, you're going to lay down for today, mister!' Paige said when the demon hunter was about to jump out of his bed. 'You have had one hell of a night, as your landlady I insist that you're going to rest! Don't worry about me, I can run the shop by myself.'

'But...'

'No buts! It's okay, I promise you, I can handle it. You're going to rest until you feel fine enough. You can finish your pirate ship over there if you want to, I will make your breakfast. Yes, I know, it's noon, but you've still got a delicious breakfast made by yours truly to catch up on. And do you want to miss out on my infamous home-made waffles?'

Finn shook his head and chuckled. 'No, of course not.'

* * *

After he had a plate of fresh waffles made by the demon witch, Finn decided that it was time for him to take a shower to clear his head. Feeling the hot water trickling down his head and body nearly made him feel sleepy again, but it felt good nonetheless. He couldn't help but wonder how Paige was doing downstairs in the shop (he had no idea about the state of The Pentagram was in last night, but a little bit of Paige's magic powers was thankfully enough to fix all of the damage) and he did feel the urge to come downstairs and help her out anyway, but he knew that she wasn't going to budge and would send him back upstairs without any hesitation. No, if Paige was determined about something, she was going to stick with it, so the demon hunter knew that this attempt was going to be useless. After half an hour or so, the hot water ran out and he decided to get out. Finn brushed his teeth until he saw a trickle of blood in the minty foam, put on his clothes and went back to his bedroom. The Lego pirate ship was waiting for him there, waiting for days to be finished. Well, if he was going to have a day off today... Finn sat down at his desk and grabbed the pirate ship's manual, wondering where he had left off last time he worked on it. The figurehead and a few other parts had to be attached, so it wasn't going to be much work. While he attached the blocks and other small, plastic items onto his little artwork, Finn could feel the last bit of unease he had when those memories came back to him fade away. For as long as he could remember, playing with Lego had always been soothing to him, it helped him to get his mind off things and relax. It was the only thing he actually enjoyed doing back at the orphanage years ago, as long as he would be alone with his Lego, everything was fine to him.

But still, there was one question that was on his mind that was impossible to ignore... where was Baron?

Two voices sharing a conversation in the living room snapped him out of his thoughts. The demon hunter was able to recognize Paige's voice, but he didn't recognize the other one. Who could that be? It clearly belonged to a female, but he didn't know who it could be. Could it be Dolph's wife deciding to drop by for a little visit to see who her husband was visiting whenever he had a strange case? Her name was Kaitlyn, that's all the demon hunter practically knew of her (besides the fact that she made the most delicious pasta dishes in the world, which Dolph liked to brag about sometimes), he had never seen her in person. Time to introduce himself, he guessed. He got up from his seat, left his bedroom and headed to the living room.

It wasn't Kaitlyn.

'Here, try drinking this.' Paige said when she put a glass of healing potion in front of Sara. 'I'm not going to lie, it will taste pretty bitter, but it will heal your burn faster, trust me.'

Sara picked up the glass and looked at the green liquid with a pensive look on her face. It looked like someone had put greens in a blender, if you'd ask her. It looked everything but delicious, but if it would indeed heal her and perhaps even take away the pain her burn was causing... She decided to give it a shot. Sara took a sip of the potion and clenched her eyes shut in disgust as soon as she tasted the bitter flavor, but despite that she swallowed it anyway. The bandage that was wrapped around her wrist did numb the burning pain a bit, she hoped that her assumption about the potion taking the pain away was right. But just as she wanted to take another sip, she felt a pair of eyes staring right at her. Looking to her right, she could suppress a gasp of surprise just in time. Finn was standing there in the doorway, looking almost just as she surprised as she was. He immediately recognized her as the young woman who was with Baron last night; the same young woman he had betrayed by burning and tossing her in the lake.

'What is she doin' here?' the demon hunter asked. Sara could clearly hear a hint of distrust in his voice.

'Finn, it's okay.' Paige replied. 'She's no longer an enemy, she never was in the first place. Sara here was just another victim of Baron.'

Victim... hearing that damn word she hated so much made a chill run up Sara's spine. She had sworn that she would never become one again... but now it turned out that she had yet again fallen into that humiliating role she tried to step out of. Right now was not the moment to think about that, though; she now had to convince Finn that she wasn't a threat and gain his trust, or at least a bit of it.

'You see... Baron... He... He told me some really bad things about you.' she said. 'I trusted him that much at that time that I believed him. He said that you lived to protect bad people, like the abusive and such. And I fell for it, because... I was forced to live with those kind of people for many years. I was convinced that we were the good guys the entire time.' Sara let out a sigh and glanced at the floor in shame. 'God... I feel like such a stupid idiot. I'm so sorry...'

It was silent in the living room for a little while.

'Ya don't have to feel like that.' Finn spoke. 'Ye're not the first person in this world to fall for a demon's lies. While it is true that I defend humanity, I would never, ever, in a hundred years, protect those who are nothin' more but pure evil. If I would know that a human being only lives to ruin the lives of others in any kind of way, well, then... I'd rather let a demon have their way with them. Because honestly, I believe that some humans can be much worse than any kind of demon.'

Sara looked up and blinked her eyes in surprise. 'Really? So... you're not mad at me or anything? After everything that has happened?'

The demon hunter shook his head. 'No. Baron has manipulated you with his words and you fell in his trap, just like he probably wanted. I don't blame ya for anythin'.'

The corners of Sara's mouth curled into a very small, relieved smile. 'Thank goodness...'

'But look, Sara... do ya perhaps have any idea of where Baron is?' Finn asked. 'Is he still out there, is he still alive?'

'Um...' Sara glanced away for a second before looking back at the demon hunter. 'Yeah, he's still alive. I... I took him home with me.'

'What?'

Sara had already expected this kind of reaction, but she wasn't afraid of defending her choice. 'I know, it sounds so weird, I don't judge you, but it was me who came up with that. I want to take care of Baron, he needs my help. I can't let him suffer like this. He is in so much pain, it breaks my heart to see him like this. Yes, I know what he has done, I know that he has killed many people and I know that he has betrayed me, but... I believe that he has been punished enough. I admit it, I remember I wanted him to die after what he had done to me, but when I saw you ripping his tattoos off and heard him screaming, I thought this punishment was good enough for him. I couldn't let him die, I just couldn't. There has already been too much violence, hell, I have experienced violence my entire life, I wanted it to stop so badly. Despite all those horrible things he has done, Baron still means a lot to me. He has done things for me that nobody else has done. He made me feel like I actually mattered to someone. Paige has told me that she has seen something inside me that made me different from Baron, she told me that she could see that I am a kind person. I have never believed that, but... now I do want to believe. I want to be that kind person. I want things to change. And if taking care of Baron will make a good person, then I will gladly do it. I know that he deserves a second chance and I want to give it to him.'

It was quiet once more for a few seconds.

'You're bloody serious about it, aren't you?' Paige asked.

Sara nodded. 'Yeah.'

'Very well then. But you must realize that you're taking a big risk here. Even if you treat Baron with all the kindness you have inside you, he might not change. But if you feel like things are going to spiral out of control, you give me or Finn a phone call. We will put that bastard in his place before he can even lay one finger on you.'

'I appreciate your concern.' Sara replied with a small smile. 'Thanks.'

Finn and Paige took a moment to give her their phone numbers. The demon witch didn't want to say it out loud for Sara's sake, but she swore to God that if the ink demon would dare to harm her in any kind of way, the last thing he would ever feel and see was a ball of blue fire in his face. 'Hey, we haven't had lunch yet.' she said. 'Do you want to eat with us? It's no problem, really.'

Sara shook her head. 'Thanks, but no thanks. I wish I could stay a bit longer, but I have to check up on Baron.'

'I see... Hold on a minute, I have some things to give you.' Paige walked away and headed to the bathroom. Finn and Sara could hear her mumbling something in a strange language before she came back with a roll of bandage. 'I've put a spell on this. Baron's wounds will heal faster if he uses this.' the demon witch explained. 'Here, have this too. I can easily brew another one.' She grabbed the half-full bottle of healing potion from the table and handed the items over to Sara.

'Thank you, Paige.' she replied, smiling at her. 'I will never forget what you have done for me. I promise I will drop by whenever I can. Goodbye!'

'Goodbye. And good luck, girl.' the demon witch said; she dearly hoped that she would have all the luck in the world.

And so Sara exited the apartment, went downstairs and left The Pentagram. As soon as Paige was absolutely sure that she couldn't hear them, she let out a sigh and shook her head. 'I will never understand humans when it comes to love...' she mumbled.

'Well, what can I say, Paige...' Finn said when he filled the coffee maker on the kitchen counter with water. 'Love can do some strange things to a human.'


	30. We Can Fix Each Other

**Chapter 30**

 **We Can Fix Each Other**

It was so strange...

While Sara walked down the street she lived at, it was like nothing had changed while she was gone. It was the same sunshine that shined through the rustling of the leafs of the trees that had been planted in this neighborhood for who knows how long, the same white picket fences that gave the front lawns of the houses the oh so typical all-American look, the same cars that were parked on the driveways. She hadn't been here for nearly a week and it looked like time had frozen in the suburbs of Levesque City. Did the neighbors even know that she had been missing for six days? Sara highly doubted that, if she had to be honest. She never had been close with any of her neighbors and they never had any real interest in her. Well, there had been this one time a lady who was in her mid-forties, had way too much make-up on her face and lived across the street, decided to visit her a day after Sara was finished with moving in with a slice of freshly baked apple pie. Despite the brief hesitation at first, Sara had accepted the friendly gesture and she had to admit, the apple pie was delicious. But that was the only bit of interest the neighbor had ever shown her; she never greeted Sara whenever they spotted each other at the supermarket or when she happened to be outside whenever she went to work in the morning. That's when Sara realized she had been nice to her just because she was new in the neighborhood, that was all. She didn't mean anything to her, but Sara was everything but surprised by that fact. When did she ever mean something to any person? There had been so many times that Sara had come home all by herself, but this time, she knew that there was something different now.

Someone was actually waiting for her at home.

The sun had briefly disappeared behind a small cloud, but when that thought came up in her head, it reappeared and filled the whole world once more with nothing but warm sunshine. For once, Sara wasn't alone in her own house. And dear God, it felt fantastic. The healing potion she had consumed at Paige's place had numbed the pain her burn caused, but the euphoria she felt at that moment finished the job; she no longer felt the burn on her wrist. It was the handsome angel (as soon as she saw him arriving at the fight, Sara definitely knew that humans weren't the only creatures living in this world) who carried the unconscious and half-skinned Baron and accompanied her while Paige took Finn back to her shop to take care of him. Sara had feared that the mutilated ink demon would be dead before they could reach her house, but thankfully he was still breathing when they were standing at the front door. She had hastily grabbed an old bed sheet from her closet and covered her couch with it before the angel carefully put Baron on top of it; bloodstains were immediately formed on the white fabric. The angel had offered to watch over the ink demon while she had some sleep, but Sara had refused. She was going to be fine, it was her task to watch over Baron. He had tried to convince her otherwise, but when he knew that he wasn't able to convince her otherwise, the angel left, but not before warning her to run like a bat out of hell when Baron would regain consciousness. There was still some spare bandages in the cupboard in the kitchen, enough to cover up his skinless chest and right arm. Sara barely had any sleep that night, fearing that Baron might die as soon as she would close her eyes. How much sleep did she have? Two hours at most, maybe. The first thing she did when she woke up was checking up on the ink demon, who hadn't moved an inch since the moment he was laid down. And thank God, he was indeed still breathing.

Sara hoped from the bottom of her heart that Baron would still be there when she would arrive. Her house wasn't that far away anymore, just one more minute of walking. She heard a backdoor from a house on the other side of the street opening and a few seconds later, a little girl who could be no older than five drove down the sidewalk on a plastic, pink tricycle, having the time of her life. She looked so carefree, so happy... it nearly brought tears to Sara's eyes. This child here had the kind of childhood that she never had, the ideal, happy, warm childhood she had been denied; even though she didn't know this little girl, she dearly hoped that she would never have to go through the same horrors she was forced to go through. But now was not the time to lament about the past that no longer mattered, she wanted to focus on what was most important now. And that was taking care of the ink demon that she still loved so much despite everything that had happened.

Sara arrived at home at last. She kneeled down to fetch her spare key that was hidden underneath the doormat, grabbed it and unlocked the front door, all while wondering what was going on inside at this moment. Was he awake and scheming his plan to escape or did the immense pain still render him unconscious? Well, there was only one way to find out about that... Sara opened the door and stepped in.

A faint, shuddering groan could immediately be heard after she shut the door behind her. She almost wanted to let out a sigh of relief; thank God, he was still alive. 'Baron, I'm home!' she said while she headed to the living room. 'I've got something to ease your pain...'

Stepping into the living room, she was greeted with a sight that instantly broke her heart. The half-skinned ink demon was still lying on the couch, his eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling, teeth clenched together to suppress the screams of pain that filled up his throat (although not managing to hold back the groans), hands gripping the bloodstained sheets so tightly that his knuckles turned white, his half-skinned body trembled all over and his skinned chest heaving up and down. The bandages that had been wrapped around the skinless areas had fully colored red over the night. His suffering was beyond comprehension and Sara wanted nothing more but to take that pain away from him, or most of it at least. Upon hearing her coming in, Baron slightly lifted his head to look up.

'Sa...ra...' he whispered with a hoarse voice. 'What the... where the f-f-fuck... am I? Oh... fuck...'

'It's okay, you're safe.' Sara calmly replied while walking over to him. 'You're at my home. I dropped by at Paige's shop and she gave me-'

'Wait... y-you mean that... pale bitch from last night? Why... Why the hell would you...'

'Because she's my friend now, that's why. Do you think you can sit up? Come, let me help you.'

Right on that moment, the sun decided to hide behind another passing cloud in the sky and the sunlight that bathed the living room in a gentle warmth disappeared, lightly dimming the surroundings. Baron sucked in some air through his clenched teeth as he tried to slowly shift himself into a sitting position, fearing for the pain to increase as he did so while listening to Sara telling him that he was doing well and to take it easy with a soft voice. By the time he had managed to sit up, the ink demon felt his skinless flesh burning underneath the bloody bandages, fucking hell, it was burning so much.

'There you go...' Sara said. She put the half-full bottle of healing potion on the coffee table in front the couch and unrolled the enchanted roll of bandages. 'I'm going to take off the old bandages, I don't think they can't do much now. Paige gave me this, it will make recovery go faster, that's what she told me. I know that this is going to hurt, but I will be as careful as possible, okay?'

'Just do it...' Baron mumbled.

His skinless chest and arm already felt like burning underneath the bandages, but when Sara slowly peeled it off of the bloody tissue where his skin once had been, it felt like someone had poured a full goddamn jerry can of gasoline over them. The mutilated skin demon miserably failed to hold it back and screamed in agonizing pain, gripping into the thick material of the couch with so much strength that the material almost shredded underneath his fingernails. The bandages produced a stomach-churning wet noise as it revealed the grotesque injuries on his chest and arm, but it didn't refrain Sara from pulling off the bandages. It was horrible that he was suffering so much right now, but as soon as the new bandages would be wrapped around his wounds and he would consume the healing potion, a large portion of the pain would go away; that's all she wanted for him. Baron hissed a slur of profanities in between his grunts of pain while she continued, clenching his eyes shut and holding onto the couch. As soon as the end of the bandage let go of his skinless wrist, Sara tossed the long, useless, bloody strip of fabric on the floor. Then she took the enchanted roll and began to carefully wrap the new bandages around his chest and arm. She heard the ink demon occasionally sighing, as if he was... relieved? Could the healing spell already be working? Sara really hoped so. When she was done, she stood up and looked at the result. The clean bandages made Baron's appearance less heart-wrenching, but the treatment wasn't done yet. She took the bottle and pulled off the cork with a loud pop.

'Is that... absinthe?' Baron let out a barely audible chuckle. 'Good job on that, I... I could use a good drink...'

'It's a healing potion. Paige gave it to me.'

'And... how can you... be so sure about that, huh? That bitch could've given you poison for all you know...'

'For God's sake, Baron, it's not poison.' Sara replied curtly. 'I have drank from this same bottle and I feel completely fine. If you really think it was poison, I probably would've dropped dead by now, or not? It will take a good chunk of your pain away and it will heal you faster, trust me on that. Now come on, take a good sip. Or do you want to continue to suffer pain? The choice is yours.'

The ink demon didn't say anything, but shook his head as an answer. Sara knelt down and pressed the tip of the bottle against his lips. He slightly parted his lips, allowing the green, bitter liquid to flow into his mouth. Upon tasting the incredibly bitter flavor, Baron wrinkled his nose in disgust and grunted, but Sara didn't want him to spit the liquid back in the bottle. She rested her hand on his back and gently rubbed it, soothing and encouraging him to swallow it at the same time. It seemed like this helped; multiple gulps could be heard and the ink demon's Adam's apple rhythmically bobbed up and down.

'There there...' Sara said while she continued to rub his back. 'You can have it all. You need it more than I do.'

After taking a few more big gulps, Baron removed his lips from the bottle and coughed. When Sara put the bottle back on the table, she saw that a very thin layer on the bottom was all that was left. She mentally planned to go back to Paige's shop if this wasn't going to be enough. The mutilated ink demon carefully scooted down in a lying position and rested the back of his head against the elbow rest.

'I can get you some water if you want.' Sara said while getting up. 'Hold on, I will be right back.'

And when she took three steps, the cloud that had obscured the sun drifted away and she heard a loud sniff. Sara turned around and yes, she could clearly see it; she could see something wet trickling down from the corner of Baron's left eye. A tear. Was he... crying?

'Baron, hey... what's the matter?' Sara asked. She walked back to couch, sat down and gently rubbed his knee. 'Are you alright?'

The mutilated ink demon glanced at her and wiped the escaped tear away. 'What does this look like?' he snarled, pointing at his chest. Two new tears ran down his face. 'Does this look like I'm alright?! My fucking skin got ripped off! My tattoos are gone! This has to be the worst fucking pain I have ever experienced! My powers are gone forever! I'm...I'm no longer a real demon!'

Baron wished he could blame Finn for doing this to him, but he couldn't... because deep inside, no matter how much he wanted to deny this, he knew that all of this was of his own doing. It was him who made the decision to travel to the Mortal Realm, it was him who wanted to hunt the notorious Bastard Demon for his blood, it was him who stopped at nothing to gain the strength he desired, it was him who had decided to challenge him. And what did he win in the end? A skinless chest and arm, pain that was beyond comprehension, crushed pride and humiliation. His tattoos were gone, swallowed up in that black energy that had torn them off. Without his tattoos, he was nothing. Absolutely worthless. A pathetic joke of an ink demon. Hell, he didn't even have the right anymore to call himself an ink demon. And it was the suffocating humiliation that made the tears come out. Baron tried to hold them back, but he failed at doing so, making him feel even more humiliated.

'What do you mean by that?' Sara asked. 'Why aren't you a real demon anymore?'

'You don't get it, do you?' Baron replied. 'My tattoos were the very source of my powers. A demon needs his powers to defend himself, it's those powers that he can identify himself with. Don't you see, Sara? A demon without any powers is like a bird without wings. It's completely useless, an easy target for predators, destined to die on its own. I can no longer go back to the Demon Realm. I'm trapped. I've lost everything. I have nothing left to live for. Other demons will see what happened to me, I can't show myself to them unless I want to be a fucking laughing stock or if I want to die. Why? Why didn't you let me die last night, Sara? You should've stay put and let me die!'

'Because I love you, goddamn it!' Sara suddenly shouted back.

Silence. There was nothing more but silence in the living room when yet another cloud covered the sun. The ink demon stared at the young woman sitting near his feet in sheer disbelief. He briefly opened his mouth but quickly shut it when he was unable to find any words to say at that moment. But he did eventually find them, after thirty whole seconds of quietness between the two.

'You... love me?' he said, his voice soft with disbelief. 'You've gotta be kidding me. Why? After all the shit I've done to you... I used you, I destroyed your trust, I burned off your tattoo, I tossed you in a lake like a piece of trash... and you're saying that you love me?'

He clearly had no idea that he had been punished enough for that already. Sara nodded. 'Yeah. You see, Baron...' And on the moment she got off the couch, kneeled down next to him and gently grabbed his hand, sunshine filled the living room once more. 'Despite everything that has happened, it doesn't take away the fact that you still mean the world to me. You have no idea how lonely I was before I met you. I had escaped my parents' abuse, but even then I didn't find any joy in being alone. I didn't trust anyone, nobody had any real interest in me and I was treated horribly at my job. Now that I think about it... nothing had actually changed for me. I thought I was done for that night at the party when that bastard drugged me and tried to rape me. I thought I was never going to love a man. And that's when you came, Baron. You saved me from that guy, that means you must've cared about me. If you really didn't care, you would've let him had his way. But you didn't. You chose to save me. You are the first person who has ever taken care of me when I was weak. You kept me company, fed me, made sure I was doing fine. You were willing to listen to my life story, I trusted you enough to tell you about it. All this time, you gave me the feeling that I mattered to somebody. I haven't felt that good in what seems like forever. Demon or not, I cared about you... and I still do.'

Fuck... it was true what she said; he actually had truly cared about her at some points. The mutilated ink demon remembered the anger he had felt when he saw what that sick son of a bitch at the party was about to do with her. Sure, he wasn't going to deny it, he had harmed and killed females in his past, but Sara... she didn't deserve it. She was defenseless, she hadn't done anything to cross him. Men who preyed on defenseless women were no better than goddamn animals, that's what he always thought. It was a damn good reason to butcher that bastard like a pig. And yes, Baron also wanted to make sure that she recovered well. He saw how much she enjoyed eating those cheeseburgers with bacon he brought her, she always thanked him whenever he helped her to get to the bathroom. All of those were little things, but they meant so much to her.

'Nobody deserves to be alone and suffer, Baron. I know how that feels like. You've had your punishment for betraying me... but we can start all over again. Together. Baron, I know you have said that you have lost everything now that your powers are gone, but you have forgotten about something. You still have me. We have each other. You can never go home, we can never start a new life in the Demon Realm, but as long as we have each other, we can make this world I have been so bitter and resentful about so much better. I want to leave the bitterness behind me. I want to abandon my past and start anew for real... with you, Baron.'

That's when Baron saw something that abruptly cut off his breath. Sara was smiling from ear to ear while she looked at him, and dear God almighty... she was so beautiful when she was genuinely happy. He had been blind to her beauty all this time and now he finally saw it. And her beauty was fueled by the sunshine that filled the living room, making her look so lively and bright. A different aura could be seen in her chest, big, lush and green, overlapping the aura of bitterness that had been present all this time. The aura of kindness. He had saved her once... now she had saved him.

'Sara, I... I...' he muttered.

But before he could reply, she leaned over and gave him a brief, though loving kiss on his lips, completely catching him by surprise. Her fingers rested on the back of his head, broke the kiss and gently pressed his forehead against hers while she closed her eyes. Surrounded in a kingdom of sunlight and beauty, Baron gave into the warm feeling that pooled in the pits of his stomach. For this human woman right here, he would gladly stay here.

'I... I would love to.' he said while his mouth curled into a smile.

Her happy chuckle sounded like the purest music to his ears.


	31. Shadow Of The Past

**Chapter 31**

 **Shadow Of The Past**

One month had passed since Finn had unleashed all the darkness hiding in his body in order to stop Baron and he honestly had to say... this had probably been one of the calmest months he ever had.

It almost looked like the demon activity in Levesque City had taken a back seat after the violent clash in the city park. Did the demons perhaps find another place that was more interesting to terrorize? There were far more bigger cities in this country than Levesque City, so this wasn't entirely implausible. Whatever the reason was, Finn hadn't encountered any malevolent demons whenever he went out at night to search for suspicious activity and Dolph hadn't informed him about strange cases that could very well be demon-related. So it looked like the demon hunter didn't have to worry about dying during the job for one month; a very welcome surprise for all demon hunters in the world, if you'd ask him.

But despite the lack of danger, it didn't mean that this month was everything but boring. In fact, it was a month that was full of change. Finn still found it kind of hard to believe, but he had finally found a new apartment to live in.

The demon hunter knew he had to react to this apartment when he read about it in the newspaper that came in that morning; he almost choked in his piece of toast when he saw that he only had to pay 350 dollars each month for the rent. 350 dollars! He could easily afford that! This was an opportunity he shouldn't miss, he knew that. After doing a bit of research, the demon hunter found out that the apartment was actually part of a recently build apartment complex located in the city's center. The apartment was small, just big enough for one person to live in (pretty much like the former apartment he lived in before those damn demons burned it down) but Finn was okay with it; at least it was something. Maybe he could afford a bigger apartment or even buy a proper house in the future, it was a good place to begin with. When Finn told Paige about this, he could easily notice that she was surprised by the news. He figured out that she suddenly had to get used to live alone again as soon as everything was settled, but then again... life would be much easier for her if he would leave. The demon hunter couldn't help but feel guilty for each time the demon witch felt unsafe, all because she was giving shelter to a demon's worst nemesis. How many nights would she have been wide awake in bed and wonder what the hell she was going to do if her fellow demons would find out about her little secret? How many times did she hope from the bottom of her heart that nobody saw him entering The Pentagram whenever the job was done for tonight? Damn, life must've been so much easier for her before she found him on the streets, a complete fucking mess, beaten up so badly that he was struggling to retain his consciousness. Finn couldn't thank Paige enough for saving his life, letting him stay and giving him a job in her shop, but she had to pay quite a price in return... and that was her safety. The sooner he would leave, the better, the demon hunter thought. As soon as she would find a new employee, he planned to move out.

But the pleasant discovery of his new apartment wasn't the only thing that had surprised him that month. It turned out that Paige had decided to stay in good contact with Sara and she send her pictures on her cell phone on a regular basis. What the demon witch showed him one night after dinner nearly made Finn choke on his water; it was a picture of Sara with none other than Baron Corbin. Yes, it was him, no doubt about it; it was that same goddamn ink demon of whom he ripped off his tattooed skin like it was old paper. This guy must've had all the luck in the world on his side that night and that luck came in the shape of a young woman who was madly in love with him. Finn remembered that Sara had something sad when she visited Paige on the day after the fight, he couldn't shake off the feeling that she must've been through a lot of sad things before these events unfolded. But when he looked at the picture, there was nothing sad about her anymore. The two were sitting at a round, white, plastic table with a big caramel sorbet in the middle and a sunset in the background. Sara and Baron were looking into the phone's camera, both genuinely smiling. Sara's face was no longer the face of a victim; it was the face of a young woman who was enjoying life to the fullest. She was wearing a cyan summer dress on the picture and Baron was wearing a black beanie and black t-shirt; his forearm had mostly been healed thanks to the potion, but a strip of bandage could be seen peeking underneath the sleeve of his t-shirt. And there were even more pictures of their dates. There was one where they were chilling at the beach with a milkshake in their hands, another one that showed them cuddling up on a couch and the last one was taken before they entered a concert hall to attend a concert from Bring Me The Horizon. Finn, and yes, even Paige, had to admit it; Baron genuinely looked like he was happy with her. It was clear that the two were willing to build a future together. According to Sara, Baron had found a job as a mechanic in a garage that was located just outside the center of the city and she had gotten a new job at a coffee shop; she immediately quit her previous job from the moment she was hired. As soon as they would have enough money, they planned to leave Levesque City and move into a bigger house. Both Finn and Paige hoped that this happy future was indeed going to happen.

Whenever the demon hunter worked in The Pentagram during the daytime, it didn't matter if he was helping out the customers, sweeping the floor or dressing up the mannequins; he couldn't ignore the fact that these days were going to be the last days he was ever going to spend in this shop. It was strange and a bit hard to explain, but... this place had grown onto him during this time. He knew that whenever he would wake up in his new apartment Paige wouldn't be there to tell him to hurry up and get dressed before the shop would open, he would never hear that familiar 'ping' sound the cash register made whenever a customer made a purchase, the smell of lavender incense and the metal music would become nothing but parts of a memory, and Paige... he was sure that he was never going to have that unique younger brother-older sister relationship they had with another woman. He wasn't going to deny this, he was going to miss The Pentagram. It had practically become a home to him.

The day he had looked forward to (and kind of didn't look forward to at the same time, for a sentimental reason) eventually arrived. After looking through several applications, Paige had decided to hire a female college student in her late teens who really needed the money to pay for her bills. The demon hunter had briefly met her during the break time, she seemed like a person who was willing to work hard. That was a good sign, Paige would really someone like her working in her shop. Finn quickly realized that it was almost time for him to leave... but he wanted to fulfill one promise he had made to the demon witch in the past before he was going to pack up whatever he had...

'You were bloody serious, weren't you?' Paige laughed when Finn came back upstairs that night with a flat, warm, squared box that reeked of molten cheese, meat and garlic. 'I knew there was something up when you told me not to cook dinner!'

'Because tonight is a special night, I wanted to do somethin' special.' Finn replied with a grin when he put the pizza box on the coffee table. 'Ye're finally goin' to taste one of the best dishes there is in this world!' He opened the box with a graceful gesture and the delicious smells that would anyone's stomach growl filled the entire living room, revealing the cheesy goodness. 'Pepperoni pizza!'

'My God...' Paige chuckled in slight disbelief. 'You're telling me that this is the most delicious dish humans eat? That gooey stuff with that meat? How could that possible taste good? It looks so... weird and nasty!'

'How do ya know if it's nasty if ya have never tasted it?' Finn replied. 'Trust me, it's gonna be good, Paige. I will get the plates. Do ya want a glass of water?'

And so they settled down on the couch, each with a plate with a fresh pizza slice on it. The demon hunter tried his best to control the huge smile on his face when he saw the demon witch staring at her pizza slice with a mildly disgusted look on her face. The TV was on since they planned to watch a movie or maybe watch some series while enjoying their pizza. Paige breathed in and slowly breathed out. 'Alright then... here we go...' she mumbled. She grabbed her pizza slice by the crust, opened her mouth, clenched her eyes shut and took a big bite off the slice. Finn watched as her lower jaw moved up and down; a few seconds later, she swallowed it in. Paige then opened her eyes and blinked them in surprise. 'W-Wow... It's... It's actually not that bad!' she exclaimed.

'See?' Finn replied with a grin. 'Told ya it was good!'

'Mind if I take another slice when I'm done with this one?'

'Of course not. Ya can have as much as ya want!'

It was a night that both of them would never forget, it was so nice and cozy. Finn and Paige enjoyed eating the rest of the pizza while watching a stand-up comedy performed by a well-know comedian on TV, frequently bursting into laughter. At one point, Paige was laughing so hard that tears were rolling down her face. It made Finn so glad to see her like this, because hell, it must've been a long time she hadn't been laughing like this. All of this was so good... why didn't they have nights like these before when there weren't any missions for him? The demon hunter couldn't help but feel guilty about this. There had been rare opportunities, but he didn't take them. Such a shame... such a damn shame. He wondered if Paige was feeling the same way.

The next day, Roman picked them up early in the morning like he had promised; he had offered to help moving the furniture into Finn's new apartment. A large trailer was attached to the back of his car. A surprise guest was waiting for Finn and Paige when they got in the car. Little Joelle opened the passenger's door, ran towards Finn and greeted him with a big hug, to which Finn happily replied by going down on his knees and hugging her back. Joelle explained that she really wanted to help him, which was why she wanted to come along with her dad. And hey, how could Roman say no to those brown doll eyes of hers? A minute later, they all got in the car and drove to the storage unit where the demon hunter had stored the stuff he had bought for his apartment during the month. Most of the items had been bought at thrift shops, but they were all in good condition. After all the furniture and other items had been loaded onto the trailer, they headed to the new apartment and the real heavy work could begin. The elevator of the apartment complex was forced to work overtime when the pieces of furniture were moved into the new apartment one by one, sometimes the flights of stairs had to endure quite a bit as well when a piece of furniture didn't fit in the elevator. Finn, Paige and Roman took the task of lifting the heaviest pieces, which wasn't really that hard due to the incredible strength their supernatural heritages had gifted them. Joelle carried the lighter items; it was so adorable to see her run up and down while carrying as much things in her arms as she could, despite Roman's warnings to run slower. No matter how sore her arms and legs were, she kept going, all because she wanted to help the man who had saved her from harm once, she even refused to pause for a glass of water. And then, after two and a half hours, Finn's apartment was finished at last.

Paige let out a tired sigh when she plopped down on the couch. 'Ah... I think that was all. And it looks like we have finished just in time.'

'What do ya mean?' Finn asked while wiping off a sheet of sweat from his forehead.

'Don't you remember? I told you about it yesterday. I have to go to the dry cleaner's to pick up my dress for Sami's and Bayley's wedding.'

If he had been living in a cartoon world, a little light bulb would've switched on near Finn's head. 'Oh, right!' he exclaimed. 'Tomorrow's is gonna be their big day, isn't it?' He remembered Paige once showing him pictures Bayley had send her of her wedding dress and the little dress her baby daughter was going to wear. The ponytailed woman who was smiling at the phone's camera looked absolutely stunning in her snow white, mermaid-styled wedding dress with a sweetheart neckline adorned with little diamonds. And baby Molly was going to shine like a little star on her parents' wedding with her lilac, frilly dress and purple headband with two white ribbons on it. Unfortunately no photos of Sami's tuxedo hadn't been send, since he wanted to keep it a secret for just a bit longer until the wedding, but Paige was convinced that Sami was going to look just as elegant as his soon-to-be wife and daughter.

'Is Dolph goin' too?' Finn asked.

The demon witch shrugged. 'Can't really tell, honestly. He really wants to go, but you know, work... Hopefully he can get a day off, that bloke deserves it. Eh, maybe he can go, I'm pretty sure he will make it.'

'Hey, Finn! Finn!' Joelle said cheerfully when she ran out of the kitchen. She stood in the middle of the living room, more than eager to show the demon hunter the trick she had recently learned. 'I almost forget about this! I've been practicing a lot on this and I really want to show it to you! Here, look!'

And before Finn could say something back, the little girl jumped in the air and allowed her wings to come out. A brief gust blew through the living room when with the help of a powerful flap of her wings, Joelle made a graceful back flip in the air, the tips of her shoes nearly touching the ceiling as she did so. Then she carefully landed on her feet and raised her arms in the air. 'Tadaaa!'

A round of applause was her reward, making her smile from ear to ear. Roman, who had exited the kitchen just to see his daughter's new trick, didn't bother at all to hide the pride on his face. It felt so good to him to watch Joelle embrace her true heritage, he couldn't wait to fly above the city with her once they would leave. 'Atta girl!' the angel said. 'You're getting better and better!'

She looked nothing like the terrified child he had saved that one night, that made Finn so glad. Just then, he noticed something in the corner of his eye... it was the look in Paige's eyes. Even though she was smiling, there was something pretty sad about her.

'Paige... is everythin' alright?' he asked.

'Oh, um... yeah, I'm fine.' the demon witch replied, nodding and smiling at him. 'It's just that... you know... you finally got a place on your own and... and... Oh no, now I'm gonna cry.' She still tried her best to keep on smiling and chuckled, but she failed to hold back the tears. Paige wiped them away with her index fingers before they could trickle down her face. This was so much tougher than she thought it would be, God, it was so embarrassing to burst into tears in front of everyone. 'I'm... I'm going to miss you a lot, Finn...'

'Hey, it's okay...' The demon hunter put an arm around her and gently rubbed her arm, soothing her. 'I'm goin' to miss ya too, but it's not like I'm goin' to disappear out of yer life forever, ya know. I will stop drop by at The Pentagram whenever I can.'

'And when Finn can't go, I can come visit you!' Joelle said. 'But... only if you're okay with it, you know... I won't drop by when you're too busy, I promise!'

The demon witch laughed and brushed away one more tear. 'Thanks Joelle, I really appreciate that. Finn, um... I wish you nothing more but the best of luck. I really do, mate.'

Getting used to live alone again was going to be tough... but Paige was going to try her best. She hoped she would get used to it as soon as possible.

* * *

With a bored look on his face, Finn was lying on the couch with his sight glued on the screen of the TV, lazily zapping from channel to channel. It looked like it was one of those nights where there was absolutely nothing special to watch, unless you enjoyed watching obnoxious talk shows, uninteresting quizzes and uncreative commercials. After two minutes or so, he finally decided that he had enough and pressed a red button in the upper right corner of the remote. The TV's screen immediately turned black.

It had been three days since the demon hunter had moved into his new apartment and he had to say, he thought he had picked the right apartment to live in despite the fact that he could occasionally hear what was going on at his neighbors' places. The young couple on the neighboring apartment on his right always had something to bicker about, ranging from money issues to the dirty dishes that had been on the kitchen counter for three days because both of them were either too lazy or too busy to wash them. And the neighbor in the apartment on the left was a lady in her mid-fifties who was a retired opera singer and enjoyed listening to classic opera music. Not that this bothered Finn, though; the lady was pretty friendly and he sometimes actually enjoyed listening to the elegant divas with names like Olivia, Francesca and Maria singing their hearts and lungs out with a what seemed like a whole army of violins and one single piano playing in the background, it was often quite soothing. But tonight, it looked like the lady next door decided not to play her beloved opera and the young couple were probably too ticked off to talk to each other, it was one of those rare moments where it was actually quiet in the apartment building. However, this didn't mean that Finn was planning to go to bed early or go to the bars to drink until the sun came up.

Work had to be done; because after all, the real monsters would always come out at night.

Somewhere out there, a demon could be scheming a dark plan to strike fear into the hearts of humans and target those who were unfortunate enough to contain the kind of life force said demon was searching for. And it was Finn's job to protect humanity from this evil, he had dedicated his life to it from the moment his training to become a professional demon hunter had begun. He got up from the couch and looked around. A few carton boxes that had contained Chinese food an hour ago were strewn over the table leaf of his dinner table. A brief chuckle escaped past his lips; if he would've done something like that if he was still living with Paige, she would've been absolutely livid. It felt strange to live here without her, it had been such a long time since he had been on his own, but he knew that she would never be out of his life and he would never forget her. He truly was grateful for everything she had done for him. Demon or not, Paige would always be the closest friend he had gained in that time.

It was time for him to get out and search for malevolent demons. Finn got up from the couch, gathered the carton boxes and tossed them in the trash bin and put on his leather jacket in the hallway. Hell, even wearing this jacket brought back memories from living with Paige. How many times did she wash out the bloodstains out of it whenever he came back from a mission that had promptly escalated? The demon hunter could swear that he could smell a whiff of lavender in the leather material; that memorable smell nearly brought tears to his eyes. He grabbed his keys, exited his apartment and shut the door behind him. And as if this was their signal, the young couple next door broke into yet another pointless argument when the demon hunter had taken five steps away from his front door.

The sun had just gone down, coloring the sky into a very elegant, light shade of blue. Levesque City looked everything but lifeless with people that were walking on the pavements, some alone, some in groups, heading to the bars, discos and clubs that would only open when night was falling and the lampposts that somehow made walking through the streets at twilight look like a rather dreamy experience to some of the biggest dreamers who lived in this city. A gust of wind rolled down the streets, which made Finn adjust the collar of his jacket; something told him that this was going to be a cold night. When he looked to his right, he saw the city park on the other side of the street... it was that same park where he had battled Baron and won in the most gory way possible. The demon hunter ignored the goose bumps that appeared underneath the sleeves of his jacket, but it did remind him of something important. The demon inside him had almost never been this calm before, he had never seen him again whenever he looked in the mirror of his bathroom and his constant growls had ceased. His demonic side had come to rest after that battle... and hopefully it would remain calm for a long time.

Finn decided to visit the park first to check for demon activity; a large area like this one would be nothing more but a twisted playground for the malevolent ones. He crossed the street and entered the kingdom of green, lakes and sinister memories. The first thing he noticed was the fact that there was absolutely nobody in sight, except for the small group of teen girls that exited the park at the same time he went in. But still, this didn't mean that there wasn't any danger around. Some demons had the ability to hide in the shadows and use the darkness that would soon swallow up the park in less than an hour to their advantage. Following the path, Finn knew that he had to be alert at all times. Even if it had been calm for quite a while, it didn't mean there wouldn't be any demons out there who were foolish enough to pick a bone with him. If he had to let out his inner demon again if he had to, then so be it. Finn constantly looked around, expecting to catch a demon's aura at any moment... but strangely enough, it didn't happen. Not a single malevolent aura could be spotted here, not in the trees, not in the fields, not near the water, not even in the bushes.

'Nothin'...' the demon hunter mumbled to himself.

Another gust of wind made him shiver, rolling through the leafs of all the trees and bushes, causing them to rustle and soon forming an entire orchestra of peaceful rustling. Peacefulness... that was exactly what the park was practically radiating with at that moment. It was like a fight between an ink demon and half-demon with his associates had never taken place. It was funny, actually... no matter how gruesome an event that had taken place here could be, it was almost impossible to taint the calming atmosphere that lingered here on some nights. And that atmosphere seemed to get onto the demon hunter as he felt himself slightly relaxing. So this is what is was like to not be constantly aware that each day could be your last day, all because of the job you chose to do. No, it wasn't a job, demon hunting was everything but a job... it was a lifestyle.

Finn turned around a corner, planning to head towards the exit of the park. As relaxing and peaceful this may have been, it didn't mean his night was over just yet. He looked to his left and saw one of the park's many lakes. Benches were installed on the shore for couples who wanted to enjoy a romantic night in the park and stare at the calm, splashing waters while romantically holding hands. No ducks were to be seen, not even one stray duckling. Stars had already appeared in the sky; even though they were rather faint, they made the park at night look even more dreamy and peaceful.

It looked like Finn hadn't been the only person attending the city park after all. He could clearly see it. Standing at the shore of the lake, a woman was staring at the water, as if she was lost in her own thoughts. She hadn't heard the demon hunter's footsteps, or else she would've looked up for sure. But no, she just kept... staring. Not even yet another cold breeze that rolled through the park did nothing to make her move. She was wearing a long, black trench coat and her fiery red hair reminded Finn of flames in a bonfire.

Wait... red hair?

Black trench coat?

The demon hunter's mouth instantly became dry as a dessert as his heart skipped a beat.

No... it couldn't be... that was impossible!

It couldn't be her, not in a million years!

But he still wanted to know. He took a few more steps, it felt like his feet had turned into lead. The mystery woman still wasn't looking up when he carefully approached her with tears stinging in his eyes, trembling hands and a heart that was beating like a jackhammer, so loud that he could hear it in his head. His tongue was sticking to his palate until he opened his mouth to speak. He could barely hear his own voice due to the loud heartbeats that filled his entire world.

'Becky...?'


	32. Beauty And The Beast

**Chapter 32**

 **Beauty And The Beast**

It was indeed her.

Becky Lynch turned around, her eyes wide with surprise and disbelief; it were those same green eyes Finn considered as the most beautiful eyes in the world. Upon spotting the demon hunter, her lips parted to let a barely audible gasp through. Her long red hair seemed to have a life of its own when another breeze made all the leafs and blades of grass rustle. She stared at Finn, frozen in one place, her eyes big and her face as white as a sheet, as if she was seeing a ghost. No, he may have not been a ghost... but he sure was another kind of monster in Becky's mind. Finn saw the demon huntress' lips trembling, frantically searching for words or maybe even insults to hurl at him, but she couldn't find anything. It was just the two of them; nobody who could interrupt this shocking, sudden reunion.

Time stood still in the park of Levesque City.

'Becky...' Finn said, hardly believing that the first and only woman he had ever loved was really standing in front of him; he expected to wake up in his bed in his apartment with a broken heart and tearstains on his cheeks. 'W-What are ya... It's... It's been so long...'

The demon hunter dared to take one step towards her. Becky saw this and didn't hesitate for one second. In the blink of an eye, she reached with her hand into the pocket of her trousers and pointed her pistol that she had used on countless missions right at Finn's face. The demon hunter didn't move, knowing damn well that she wasn't afraid of pulling the trigger as soon as he would make one more step. She had never been a hesitant person.

'Don't come any closer to me, Finn.' Becky said, doing a great job at hiding the trembling in her voice. 'I swear to God, I will shoot ya right through yer goddamn head if ya dare to attack me! Back the hell off! I'm warnin' ya! Piss off!'

Despite the fact that he was staring right into the pistol's muzzle, Finn wasn't shocked, nor surprised at all. He had expected her to reacted like this, and honestly, he didn't blame her for doing so. After all, he was the one who had killed the man she had loved the most. It was him who had destroyed the marriage and future she had dreamed of. He was the one who had ruined her life. The demon hunter shook his head and looked at Becky.

'Ya have all the right in the world to aim that thing at me, Becky.' he calmly spoke. 'I'm pretty sure ya know why.'

Both of them didn't speak a single word. Becky kept staring at him with a tense look on her face, ready to pull that damn trigger as soon as Finn made another step or had the guts to transform into his monstrous alter ego, the grass and the wooden benches would color red with his blood mixed with pieces of brain and skull, the bang the pistol would produce would most likely alarm those who lived close to the park and call the police, maybe she would get arrested unless she would toss the pistol in the lake, but those two thoughts was the last things that was going through Becky's mind at the moment. The demon huntress' expected her ex-colleague to do something, anything that would make her end his life... but nothing happened. He stared at her with almost no emotion, he was that calm. She tried to stop them, but they came anyway; that same calmness brought back the memories that hurt her so much to this day. He was always like that whenever they went out on hunts together, not a shred of fear could be found, because he knew damn well that panicking could cause a mission to escalate. Those were the good days... those were the days where he was her best friend.

Finn could clearly see it. The tense, concentrated glare softened, the corners of her mouth trembled uncontrollably, the grip on the pistol's barrel slightly loosened. Becky's arm lowered, pointing the pistol at the grass before she let go of it; the weapon fell in the grass with an almost soundless thud. What happened next tore Finn's heart clean in two; it was something he had seen Becky rarely do. The demon huntress fell on her knees, covered her face with her hands and started to sob. It had been years since she had been crying like this, Finn knew that; the last time she had broken down like this (well, so far as he knew, he was convinced that she had been crying a lot more after Sheamus' murder) was during one case where a demon had mercilessly consumed the life forces of all the babies on a nursery department in a hospital located in Ireland's more rural areas. Becky always had a fondness of little children, she was absolutely great with them. Those poor little saps didn't stand a chance against that bastard and she had made sure he paid for this in the most violent way possible before practically feeding him three rounds of bullets made of rock salt.

'I can't...' Becky cried. 'I can't... Goddamn it... I can't do it!'

'Ya can't do what, Becky? Shoot me? Even after everythin' what has happened? After what I've done to ya?' Finn asked while he walked towards her. He kneeled down and gently rubbed her shoulder, expecting her to swat it away immediately, but she kept sobbing. A jolt went through the demon hunter's body when his hand touched her. This had been the first time in months since he had been able to touch her, but to him, it felt like a century. Becky still didn't attempt to shove him away when he helped to get up and guided her to a nearby bench while still rubbing her shoulder to soothe her. They sat down together.

'It's okay...' Finn whispered over and over. 'It's all okay...'

Three minutes passed before Becky lowered her hands and wiped away her last tears. She let out a shivering sigh and turned her head to look at the demon hunter who was once her colleague. 'I look like a total idiot, don't I?' she mumbled.

Finn shook his head. 'No, not at all.' She had never looked like an idiot to him, not in all those years.

The demon huntress looked and crooked the corners of her mouth into possibly the saddest smile he had ever seen. 'Come on, Finn, don't lie to me. Ya know that I hate liars.'

'Why would I ever lie to ya?'

That's when it dawned upon Finn. Up until now, he swore he had never told Becky a single lie during the years they worked together, but he was wrong; the fact that he presented himself as a perfectly normal human being to her for years was nothing more but a cruel lie. That sudden realization made him shiver all over. Becky didn't say anything back and stared at the lake. Finn decided to do the same. The sky had turned into a darker shade of blue and more stars had appeared. There was nothing more but silence in the park, nothing that would disturb the tranquility. If you looked very closely, you could see the reflections of the stars in the water of the calm lake; all of this combined made the perfect setting for a bittersweet reunion like this. The only thing that was missing at this moment was the opera music his neighbor played, Finn suddenly thought. Now that he thought about it, this was all he ever wanted. Just him and Becky, staring at this beautiful sight while night was coming closer and closer, the perfect opportunity to confess his feelings for her and hopefully receive that very first kiss... but he knew that the last two things were never going to happen after what he had done to her. All of this could've been different if she had never entered a relationship with Sheamus... or if he had killed him in a fit of demonic rage because of some stupid argument he could barely remember. But one thing was for sure; Sheamus had the guts to mention Becky during that fight.

'After ya had fled, I wanted nothin' more but have my revenge on ya.' Becky spoke, breaking the silence but not looking away from the lake. 'My heart was broken. Not only had I lost the man who I loved so damn much, but also my closest friend. I was a wreck. I wanted to make ya pay, Finn. I wanted to make ya pay so badly. There was absolutely nothin' that could refrain me from searchin' for ya. I traveled all over Ireland for months, all in the hope of findin' that one goddamn half-demon who had ruined my life. I no longer saw ya as my best mate, but as the... the... thing that had taken everythin' away from me. Aye, I'll admit that. I couldn't find a single trace of ya durin' those months, it was like ya disappeared into thin air. However... I did find somethin' else. Somethin' that shook my entire world once more and made me change my goal.'

'What did ya find?'

The demon huntress took a deep breath and slowly breathed out; apparently the memory of her discovery hurt her more than Finn thought it would. 'Let's just say that... I found out that Sheamus had a little sweetheart in nearly every place we once visited. All those women I ran into, I knew almost all of them because we had met them during our previous missions, asked the same question: where was Sheamus? I was around him all the time during those missions, so I should've known where he was. His colleague... he had told them all I was just a colleague, not his lover. Not his fiancée... I didn't mean anythin' to him, never did durin' the time we were together. Finn, I'm not goin' to lie; some of those women told me they were pregnant with his child. I thought I was goin' insane when I heard that. Out of all things... Sheamus could've been a member of the Legion Of Hunters for all I cared, but this... I had never expected this. That's when I stopped grievin' about him. That son of a bitch wasn't worth any second on my mind. I had been chasin' after the wrong person the entire time. I changed my entire plan after that. Since I couldn't find ya anywhere in Ireland, I figured ya had gone abroad. The United States was just a lucky guess, it was the first country that jumped in my mind. When I heard that Levesque City was a popular place for demons to terrorize, I traveled to this place without a second thought. And now that I have finally found ya, I want to ask you this, Finn...' Becky paused and looked at Finn. He could see new tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. 'Why did ya never tell me about yer demonic side? I was... I mean, I'm yer friend. We've known each other for years, we've known each other ever since we were kids... ya could've told me!'

'Becky, I...' Without thinking about her reaction, Finn grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it. She blinked her eyes one time in surprise, but didn't back away. Instead, she stared him in his eyes, awaiting the question she had been looking for all this time. This was it. Finn was going to tell the woman he had loved more than anything else the entire truth at last. 'I... I never told ya about it because... I didn't want to scare ya. Ya were the very first friend I ever had, ya were the first human bein' who treated me with kindness instead of cruelty. I was afraid that if I would ever let the demon inside me out, ya would run away from me and never want to see me again. Becky, ye're that important to me. Our friendship and your kindness were the things I had always treasured and still do to this day. That's why I never told ya.'

'But Finn... ya wouldn't have scared me one bit if ya had told me the truth.' The demon huntress stood up and gently pulled his hand, motioning him to get up on his feet. Finn complied, not breaking his sight from Becky for one single second. Now standing front of him, Becky fought as hard as she could to push back those damn tears. 'I would've done everythin' I could to prevent that secret from ever leakin' out. Because... Because half-demon or not... ya would and always will be that one boy roamin' the streets of Dublin with the sad look on his face, that one boy in the summer, that one boy I would skip school for just so I could play with him... and gave me the best childhood memories. Times we're so damn tough for Ireland, but ya made everythin' so much better for me. Finn... ya have no idea how much ya mean to me.'

'Becky... all the years I have spend ya, when we were children and when we worked together... those had to be the most wonderful years of my life.'

And that's when he did it; the one thing he wanted to do for as long as he could remember.

Finn gently pressed his lips against Becky's, capturing it in the most gentle kiss there was and immediately closed his eyes. And good God in heaven, it was like he was dreaming. Until now, he could only fantasize about how her lips would feel on his and it was exactly like he had imagined. Soft, warm and so addicting, he never wanted to break this kiss, even if it would be the death of him. A very soft hum could be heard from Becky, for one second he was afraid that she was going to push him away. But then he felt her hands letting go of his hand and travel up from his arms to his back. One hand remained on his back while the other rested on the back of his head, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. Was she... giving in? Yes, she was giving in, no doubt about it. He had been forgiven. His feelings at been answered. His life was complete now; Finn thought he was going to drop on his knees and burst into tears at any second, he was that happy.

After what felt like the most blissful century that had ever existed, Becky broke the kiss. Finn slowly opened his eyes, briefly expecting all of this to be a dream... but much to his relief, he was wide awake.

'Can I see him?' she asked.

'What? See who?' Finn replied with a soft voice.

'Yer inner demon. He needs to know that he is loved as well. After all, he is a part of you...'

The redeemed demon hunter didn't say anything for a little while, as if he was wondering if this was the right thing to do. Then he shook his head. 'Alright then.'

No hate or anger was involved when he unlocked the chains that kept his inner demon in his place; he figured he must've been quite surprised that he was not unleashed for battle this time. Becky watched with calmness as the transformation unfolded right in front of her eyes. Black, thick cracks appeared all over the demon hunter's skin and spread like an oil spot. His blue-grey irises and pupils disappeared, giving his eyes the appearance of a blind man's eyes. His mouth grew inhumanly large and sported two rows of razor sharp teeth. His fingernails became just as sharp as his teeth. Long, fleshy strings that resembled dreadlocks grew out of his head. And as horrific as this transformation looked like, there was also something so... calm about it. The demon inside Finn was out, but he didn't show any signs of aggression. It stared at Becky, as if he was staring at something beautiful and pure, not something that he wished to tear into bloody pieces. The demon huntress didn't look afraid at all; it was like she was meeting an old friend that she had known for years. Finn had taken a whole new form... and yet she could still see him in it.

'Hello there... I'm glad that I get to see ya again.' Becky said with a soft voice. She reached out with her hand and gently touched the half-demon's cheek. 'It's been such a long time... Ya must've felt so lonely... But don't ya worry now. I'm here. And I will love ya with all my heart.'

The half-demon responded by letting out a soft growl that didn't hint any danger or aggression. No... he felt comfortable around this human with the fiery red hair. And he could feel the love she had for him, it was coming through that touch. So much unconditional love that he had never experienced... The half-demon closed his eyes, gently grabbed Becky's hand and slightly moved it up and down his skin, allowing her to caress his cheek. He let his guard down around her, he trusted her... he loved her.

Becky carefully her hand away and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him in for a hug. She rested her face against his shoulder and let out a shivering sigh; a relaxed smile could be seen on her face.

While he hugged her back, Finn transformed back into his normal form, regaining all of his human features in a few seconds. A tear trickled down his face when he smiled from ear to ear.

For the first time in his life, he was feeling nothing more but complete, delightful, serene peace inside him.

 **And that my friends was 'The Darkness Within', the spin-off from the 'Into The Darkness' series. I sincerely hope you all enjoyed reading it. This idea of a fanfic including Finn Bálor had been in my head for a lot of months, it took a while before I could fully figure out the plot and I went through a whole lot of different ideas, but I'm happy that I've settled down with the choices I have made in the end. You see, for example, in the very early stages of the plot, Baron Corbin was actually supposed to be the protagonist while Kane was going to be the antagonist, but later I scrapped these ideas and decided to make Finn Bálor the good guy and give Baron the role of the bad guy. Quite funny, right? ;D It just shows that things can always change while you come with the plot that feels right to you. Anyway, thank you all for reading, favoring, following and reviewing! You have no idea how much it means to me! I love you all! See you next time!**


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